Sonic Heroes: Millennium
by ForceWalker
Summary: The Sonic Heroes are back and taking their adventures to the next level in a world far beyond their imaginations. New dangers, new friends, and some old hedgehogs.
1. Starting Over

A/N: It is my distinct honor to tell you all that my sensei, Babylon Sky Hawk, offered me to do this story of his Sonic Series. It takes place three to four days after the events of Resurrection, and it details the adventures of the new Sonic Team two hundred years into the future set by the events of Resurrection. It will feature Sonic II, Shadow, Silver, Metal Sonic, Blue, Kumori, Eggman Nega, and many others. Crossovers and maybe even my OCs will appear in this. Now without further ado, I, along with Hawk-Sensei, present to you…

**Sonic Heroes: Millennium**

Starting Over

It is two hundreds years after the Sonic Heroes finally defeated Nazo. Future City was a flourishing, technologically advanced city, and it had just once again been saved by the returning Sonic Heroes. Everything was peaceful, at least for the moment. The scene shifts towards a field just outside of Future City, where the Sonic Heroes of that time were at.

Shadow the Hedgehog stood on a hillside, staring out into the open, thinking over the events that had just taken place over the past few days ago. He had returned from his isolated training, just to find that his friendship with Silver was on rocky grounds. He came in contact with an evil plot to use the Bijuu, the Tailed Beasts, to conquer the world, led by Kizun. He was captured by her elites as a replacement for the final Bijuu. He was saved in time, but Kizun merged herself with all nine Bijuu, becoming the powerful Lilith. Using the Chaos Emeralds, they fought Lilith, freeing the Bijuu and sending them back to their dimension, destroying Lilith. But the victory was short-lived as Mephiles used the opportunity to revive Nazo, the God of Darkness. Shadow wondered what was going to happen next after all of this.

Silver and Blaze sat down on the field, hand-in-hand, right now going through a romantic picnic. Silver and Blaze had gotten into a huge fight, and broke up. Not only that, but when Shadow came back, Silver had been hostile towards him, their friendship about to break. But when Shadow was captured, Silver realized his mistakes and came to the rescue of Shadow along with his friends. Along with Shadow, he fought Lilith and freed the Bijuu. After healing his friendship with Shadow, he proposed to Blaze, who accepted with joy. The two were happy to finally be back together and engaged as well.

Blue, the clone of Chaos, was meditating, communicating with the nature around him. He had become a great master over the two hundred years after the final battle with Nazo. He sent Shadow to his training to be a better leader and forbid the others to fight. Unfortunately, this caused the friendship between everyone to crumble over the two years Shadow was gone. When Shadow was captured, he realized the time of waiting was long over, and led an assault to rescue Shadow. And only a few days ago, he learned that he was going to be a father.

Tikal was happily playing with some chao that were in the field. After regaining a living form and also eternal youth, she became an archeologist, helping discover many artifacts throughout the world. She also participated in the battle to save Shadow from Kizun and her elites. But the biggest news was afterwards, when she revealed she was pregnant with Blue's child. The clone of Chaos practically melted into a puddle at the news. She was three weeks pregnant right now, but the signs would present themselves soon.

Kumori, the prototype of Project Shadow, was talking with someone on the holo-vid, dealing with the troubles of being GUN Commander. Like all the others, she was affected when Shadow left for training, but probably the most emotionally, seeing as she was his wife. After the battle with Lilith and the revival of Nazo, Kumori returned to her job as GUN Commander, which she had been for the past 187 years. She was just now remembering how tough it was to be Commander.

Shadow felt something strike his head from the side. Rubbing the side of his head, he turned to see Sonic II, tossing an apple in the air, a cocky grin on his face. Sonic II was a clone of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. He had acted as a masked vigilante for Silver when he couldn't handle not being a hero. When Shadow figured out his identity, the two did battle, with Sonic II coming out victorious. Before he could deal the final blow, though, he had experienced memories of the original Sonic, preventing from killing Shadow. When Shadow was captured, he participated as well in the rescue of Shadow. With Shadow and Silver, they accessed their Super Forms with the Chaos Emeralds. In the final battle, they were able to put the Bijuu back into their own dimension. But unlike the original Sonic, who was best friends with Shadow, he and Sonic II really didn't like each other.

"What the hell was that for?!" Shadow asked with a scowl on his face.

"I just felt like throwing some apples. You just happened to be my target." Sonic II replied, the smirk still on his face. Shadow growled as Silver and Blaze looked on.

"There they go again." Silver said.

"This is starting to become a routine." Blaze added. Everything was right for the Sonic Heroes…

* * *

Inside Future City, two figures were currently inside jail. Eggman Nega, the descendant of Eggman, was currently sitting down at a table in his jail cell. He had been captured by the Sonic Heroes and was sentenced for life in jail. But because of how Nega helped Silver learn about the plan with the Bijuu, the psychic hedgehog put in a good word for Nega, and the evil genius was now on parole. But that didn't mean he was getting off any easier, considering his parole officer.

Neo Metal Sonic, the robot version of the original Sonic, stood on the other side of the table. Originally created by Nega, Metal was once the rival of the original Sonic before becoming a member of the Sonic Heroes. He often helped Tikal with her archeological finds at times. He had recently returned to his Neo Form from the battle with Kizan and her elites. Now, at the request of Silver, he was now the parole officer of his former creator.

"It's time for your parole to start. Are you ready?" Metal asked.

"Yes. I am ready to start a new life as a citizen of Future City." Nega replied. He stood up, and Metal walked over to him. But as soon as he was close enough, Nega thrust a finger at a specific spot in his chamber. Metal's electronic eyes widened just before they died down, indicating that he had shut down. He fell down with a clunk, Nega smiling evilly over him.

"My, my, you and Silver are such ignoramuses. I created you. You didn't think I wouldn't be stupid enough not to put a weak point to deactivate you when needed? It's a spot within chamber that turns you off when struck, but it's very small and must be completely precise and to the exact spot. I, being your creator, know where it is and how to do so. You can't hear me, of course, so this means you won't even know when you reactivate. I'll have to thank Silver for choosing you as my parole officer in the future." He rummaged through Metal's body, and pulled out a key card. "I think it's time for me to make my escape."

* * *

An hour later, outside of Future City at a mountain, we see Eggman Nega running as fast as he could. He stopped at the base of the mountain, panting like crazy.

"I need…to start…working out. I feel…like…I'm going…to die." Nega panted.

After regaining his breath, he walked up to the base of the mountain, and pressed his hand to it. The spot where his hand was turned into a black scanned, and it immediately scanned his hand. When finished, a little circular metal ball appeared above it, and it shot out a ray of light which scanned Nega's eye as well. When it finished, a keyboard then appeared, and he typed in a series of number. When he typed in the last one, the base of mountain began opening up, revealing a stairway leading underground. Nega walked down them, and the entrance closed behind him, leaving no evidence of his presence there.

He continued to walk down the stairs until he came to a large room, completely covered in darkness. He clapped his hands, and on command, lights shone through then entire room. It was a huge lab filled with computers, machines, weapons, and just about anything technological you can think of.

"I knew it was a good idea to build an emergency lab to fall back on, especially since GUN has probably confiscated everything in my old laboratory. Now it's time to see what I can use." Nega said with an evil grin on his face. "It is time for the return of Eggman Nega!!"

* * *

Half an hour passed, and back with the Sonic Heroes, they were still doing the same thing as before, except that Shadow was trying to kill Sonic II, who had pushed his buttons a little too much. Kumori had just finished talking with someone from GUN when she began receiving a call from someone else. He appeared on the holo-vid, and Kumori beamed at who it was.

"Metal! So nice to see you!" she said. This caught everyone's attention, even Shadow who stood over Sonic II with a Chaos Spear in his hand. "How's being Nega's parole officer?"

"Guys, we have a problem." he said.

"What do you mean?" Kumori asked.

"Eggman Nega has escaped parole." he replied. There was a momentary silence among them, and then…

"What do you mean Nega escaped!?" Kumori exclaimed.

"Yes, there was no way he should've escaped parole with you as his officer." Shadow stated.

"I thought so too, but when I got close to him, he thrust his hand towards a spot in my chamber and I deactivated immediately."

"It must have been a weak spot Nega put in you. He wouldn't have created you without a way to stop you if you turned against you." Blue deduced.

"I should have known. He was my original creator." Metal said. Silver was in so much shock at the news that he just heard.

"I can't believe it…" he muttered. "I gave him a second chance…and he stabs us in the back."

"You couldn't have known Silver." Blaze comforted him. "But he helped me figure Kizun's plan, and I gave him a chance to live freely and he just…"

"It's who Eggman Nega is." Shadow stated. "He's just like his ancestor was. He saw an opportunity to escape, and took it. You should at least expect it from him." Silver knew that, but he was still sad at how Nega took advantage of the second chance he gave him.

"But when will Nega attack? That's the question." Blue said. Just then, everyone heard an explosion. They all turned to Future City, where they could see smoke coming from the city.

"Looks like we just got our answer." Blaze said.

"Heh, looks like it's time to crack an Egghead!" Sonic II smirked. "Sonic Heroes go!"

"Still hate the name." Silver stated.

"Whatever." Sonic II muttered as he, along with everyone else, ran towards Future City. Tikal was about to follow, but Blue stopped her.

"Tikal, stay here. We can't risk the baby getting hurt." he told her.

"I understand." Tikal replied. Blue then ran off towards Future City with the other heroes.

* * *

"Okay, now where is that Egghead?" Sonic II asked as the Heroes entered Future City.

"Right next to you." a voice asked.

"What the…?" Sonic II started as he turned around.

"Sonic, look out!" Silver shouted. He used his telekinetic to get Sonic into the air just as a scythe swung where he once was. The heroes looked on at Nega's new creation.

It was a giant, pitch black machine with several white marking over its wrists and neckline. It had no legs, and it was floating in the air with the help of boosters from the bottom of the machine. There was a giant scythe in its hands, a white blade on a black pole. The final touch was the giant white flowing cape with black markings it wore. And in the cockpit we could see the man controlling it: Eggman Nega.

"Well, it's nice to see you again, clone." Nega sniggered at Sonic II.

"Hey, Nega. It's been a while. I haven't seen you since I ran out on you months ago." Sonic II chuckled.

"Silence!" Nega shouted. "Once I deal with you Heroes, the world will be mine to conquer!!"

"Why Nega?" Silver asked. "Why? I gave you a second chance with parole, and you went and stabbed us in the back with what you've done!"

"So naïve, Silver. You should've known better than to trust me like that." Nega retorted. "Giving me parole was the biggest mistake you made, especially making Metal Sonic my parole officer, since I created. I must say it was one of the easiest escapes I've ever made!"

"You're going back behind bars, Nega. And you're staying for life this time!" Shadow stated. "Try to do that if you can! Prepare to face the Nega Reaper!"

The Nega Reaper swiped it scythe, sending an energy wave at the Sonic Heroes. They jumped away in time as the wave sliced a building in half. Sonic II curled into a ball and performed a Spin Dash. The Nega Reaper punched the blue ball at full force, and it sent Sonic II crashing into a building.

"Ow. That hurt." Sonic II muttered. "Ha! Is that the best you got!?" Nega taunted.

"No! This is!" Silver said as he used telekinetic powers to throw several objects that were around at the Reaper. The Nega Reaper, though, easily sliced the objects in half with its scythe.

"Ha! And to think I thought this was going to be tough!" Nega cackled. "It is." Shadow stated as he appeared in front of him, a Chaos Lance in his hands. He fired it straight into the Reaper, and it sent it flying. It crashed down on the ground, part of its body armor destroyed, and a fuming Nega in its cockpit.

Blaze took the chance and summoned a torrent of flames, shooting them straight at the Reaper. The flames engulfed the machine, and Blaze smirked at her handiwork. But that disappeared when she realized that the Nega Reaper was intact, its hand held out with a giant energy shield emanating from it.

"Grrr, don't think I didn't come prepared! I've built a special energy for this machine! None of your attacks will break it!" Nega proclaimed. "What Shadow did just caught me off guard!"

"Oh really?" Blue said as he formed next to the Nega Reaper, grabbing it by the arms with its claws.

"Uh oh." Nega muttered as Blue, with all his strength, lifted it off the ground and threw it to the sky. Shadow took the chance to form a hundred yellow arrows around him, aiming for the Nega Reaper.

"**Chaos Bombardment!" **

The Chaos Spears shot off towards the Nega Reaper, each one making it direct contact with it.

Everyone thought the battle was over, but then the smoke cleared, and the Nega Reaper was still there, floating in the air with its energy shield protecting him.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sonic II muttered.

"I told you that nothing can break my energy shield!" Nega told them. "Now eat this!"

Nega continually swiped his scythe, bombarding them with energy wave after energy wave. The Sonic Heroes scattered as they dodged the incoming energy waves.

"Okay, this is getting us nowhere!" Sonic II shouted.

"Hahahaha, that's right! Bow before my might!" Nega laughed evilly.

Sonic II, having enough of Nega, ran up a building at sonic speed, and once at the top, shot towards the Nega Reaper, a blue orb of chaos energy forming in his hand.

"Eat this! **Sonic Wind!**"

Sonic pressed the orb towards the Nega Reaper, but it shot out its hand and summoned the energy shield. The orb and shield collided, and both Nega and Sonic II struggled to win. But in the end, the shield won as the canceled out the Sonic Wind, leaving Sonic in the air.

"What the…?" Sonic said shocked. "Ahahahaha! Now it's time to die, clone!!" The Nega Reaper was about to bring down it scythe on the defenseless Sonic II when… 

"**Psychic Screw!" **

A burst of psychic energy struck the Nega Reaper at the wound on its chest. It was sent back several feet, more body armor destroyed as a result. Sonic II fell to the ground, but stopped in the air, thanks to Silver's psychic powers.

"Damn! No matter what we do, we can't break that shield!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Even a Chaos Bombardment couldn't break that shield." Shadow added.

"Then how are we going to get past it?" Blaze asked.

"That's just it! You can't!" Nega cackled. "My shield is impervious to your attacks! Those last few shots you just got lucky with! I can assure you won't hit me again! Today is the day I finally win! Nega will finally…"

"You really need to shut up." a voice said from behind him.

The Nega Reaper turned around, only to get blasted with a shot of electricity to the shoulder. It crashed down to the ground as Neo Metal Sonic stood on the building over it.

"Metal!" Blaze exclaimed. "Hey guys. How's it going?" Metal said nonchalantly as he floated down to the ground next to them.

"How's it going?! We've been fighting Egghead Nega while you've been nowhere in sight!" Sonic II shouted.

"Hey, I'm here aren't I?" Metal told him. "But now's now the time to fight. I've found a flaw in his machine."

"You have!?" Silver exclaimed.

"Yes, but I'm going to need a distraction. Think you guys can do that?"

"Of course we can. Who do you think you're talking to?" Blaze replied. "If you're done talking… then die!!" Nega shouted as he charged at them, swinging the scythe at them. Everyone dodged it, and landed a few feet away.

"Blaze, why don't you start it off?" Sonic II smirked.

"With pleasure." Blaze said.

She dashed at the Nega Reaper, and fired a huge ball of flames at it. The Nega Reaper summoned its energy shield, which blocked it completely.

"Fools! Don't you ever learn!"

"Apparently no." Blue said as he showed up in front of the Reaper, a pair of Chaos Lances in his had. He shoved them into the shield, causing the Reaper to slide back a few feet, but the shield was still intact.

"Now! Hit him at the same time!" Shadow ordered. Sonic, Shadow, and Silver jumped into air, each one having their signature attacks in their hands.

"**Sonic Wind!"**

"**Chaos Spear!"**

"**Psychic Screw!"**

All three of their attacks struck the energy shield at the same time, creating a huge explosion. The three hedgehogs landed on the ground, staring at the spot where the Egg Reaper was covered in smoke. Several moments of silence passed, the outcome uncertain to everyone. The smoke cleared, and everyone gasped at what they saw. The Egg Reaper still stood, and what's worse, the shield was still intact, with no indication that it would fail.

"Oh come on! This is bullshit!" Sonic II cursed. "All three of our attacks combined couldn't make a dent in the energy shield." Shadow stated, somewhat impressed.

"That's right. This shield is indestructible!" Nega boasted. "Now it's time to destroy…"

"**Metal Surge!" **

The Nega Reaper's was pierced through its chest from behind by Metal Sonic, a mass of electricity held in his hand. The Nega Reaper had a huge gap in its chest, and it shook a little before exploding, Metal landing on the ground, a non-existent blowing through his cape.

Everyone but Blue seemed genuinely shocked at what happened.

"How did you…" Silver began.

"You knew the shield didn't reach to the back." Blue stated, catching everyone's attention.

"Yes. Nega thought no one would try to attack him from behind, so he didn't have the shield extend to behind it. A classic Eggman mistake." Metal explained. From the smoke, Nega piloted the Eggmobile to the sky, shaking his fist angrily at the Sonic Heroes.

"You will pay for this! This isn't the last time you've seen Eggman Nega! I'll be back!" Nega then flew away, leaving Future City and the Sonic Heroes.

With Nazo's revival and Nega on the loose, things were only going to get tougher for them.

* * *

At the very moment, below Future City in the underground, we could see several demons gathered in front of a shapeless spirit.

"All is going to schedule, my lord." one of them said. "Our progress is going smoothly."

"It still isn't enough." the spirit said in a familiar voice. "Increase work production. I need to have my body repaired as soon as possible!"

"As you wish, my lord." The demons then left, leaving the shapeless all alone.

"Soon… soon I will have my revenge on those Sonic Heroes, and all will feel my wrath!"

**The Sonic Heroes are faced with an old threat in Nega, as well as a new one. What will Nega come up with in the future? What will Nazo do now that he is revived? And who is the shapeless sprit that has appeared? Find out in the next Sonic Heroes.**


	2. Reath

**Sonic Heroes: Millennium**

Reath

There was a dark, dreary cave far away from any civilization. No one could be seen for miles, and it was as if though life was dead around the area. Of course, not all is at is seems.

"My lord, when shall we strike?" a voice asked within the cave.

"Patience, Mephiles. The time will soon come." another voice replied.

Inside the cave, we see two figures. One of them was Nazo, the God of Darkness. Recently, he had been revived thanks with the help of his loyal servant. He was sitting on a makeshift throne carved out of stone. Mephiles, the time demon and loyal servant to Nazo, was standing before his master, flanked by several of his demon servants.

"We need time to grow back into the powerful force we once were two hundred years ago. We are small in number, we lack in resources, and we need a base of operations. It is plainly obvious how we can't enact our plans from within this cave." Nazo told him. "Our first order of business will be to look for our new base of operations."

"Understood, my lord." Mephiles replied. "My servants and I shall start searching right away. But what of the Sonic Heroes?"

"The Sonic Heroes... I can't have them searching for us during our venture for a new base." Nazo stated. "Now is not the right time to be fighting them. We need time to grow in strength. Therefore, I think I'm going to have create a little distraction for them."

"Are you going to create a monster to preoccupy them?" Mephiles asked.

"Yes, but this one can't be like the others before." Nazo replied. "If I create a monster like the others before, it'll just end up being destroyed. I don't have the time or the resources to keep creating monsters to fight those heroes. I have more important matters to attend to. I need to make this one unique so it can keep those heroes occupied long enough." Just then, an idea popped into his head, and he smirked evilly.

"Lord Nazo?" Mephiles said.

"Bring me all the items we have right now, Mephiles. I'm going to create the deadliest monster I will ever make."

* * *

At the base of the Sonic Heroes, Silver, Blaze, and Sonic II were standing before their mentor, Blue. The clone of Chaos was sitting on his knees, deep in a meditative trance.

"You called for us, master?" Blaze asked.

"Yes, I did." Blue replied, opening his eyes. "I have called you all for a lesson in the works of Chaos Energy. With Nega on the loose, and Nazo still out there, we need to be prepared for anything."

"What are you going to teach us today?" Silver asked.

"We are going to learn the basics of Chaos Energy." Blue told them.

"But we all know the basics of Chaos Energy." Silver replied.

"Yes, but none of you have really used it. Silver, you have solely relied on your psychic powers throughout battles. Blaze, the same can be said about you and your fire powers. You two have never had to use Chaos Energy much in battles because of this."

"Seems as if though I'm the only one of us three who really knows how to use Chaos Energy." Sonic II smirked arrogantly.

"Oh really? Then make a Sonic Wind right now." Blue told him.

"Alright." Sonic II held out his hand, and tried to make a Sonic Wind appear. Several seconds passed by, and nothing happened. It became a bit awkward, and Sonic II had sweat going down his forehead.

"What's going on? Why can't I make a Sonic Wind?" Sonic asked. "I used it during the battle with Nega, and once while I was a masked vigilante..."

"Sonic, did you experience some sort of flashback during the battle with Nega?" Blue asked him.

Sonic II didn't tell this to anyone, but while they were distracting Nega for Metal, he had another of his memory flashbacks. He was fighting someone similar to Nega, except he wore red clothing, and had a orange moustache, and controlled a robot similar to the Nega Reaper.

"...Yeah." he answered. "I saw that I was fighting a guy that looked similar to Nega, and on instinct, I called upon a Sonic Wind."

"You can't use Sonic Wind because you don't remember how to. But these flashbacks you have, the ones that happen in the heat of battle, they allow you to access that technqiue. You're going to have be taught haow to use Chaos Energy from the very beginning."

"Oh great." Sonic muttered.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that you'll learn to use it in no time. All right, now let's begin." Blue told them.

Just before he could start the lesson, the holo-vid turned on, and the Kumori appeared on the screen, a frown on her face.

"Kumori!" Blaze exclaimed.

"What do we owe this unexpected talk from you? Right now we're having a lesson on Chaos Energy." Blue told her

"Guys, we have a problem." Kumori said seriously. "There's a monster attacking Future City."

* * *

When the heroes arrived in Future City, half of the city was demolished. Building were destroyed, debris was everywhere, and much . The heroes walked through the city, surveying the damage.

"Just like the old days. When we arrive, the city is in ruins and demolished." Silver said.

"Yeah, everything is in ruins. But my question is where is the monster causing all this?" Blaze added.

"Yes, when we arrive, there is usually a monster destroying the city." Blue stated. "There is destruciton, but no mosnter in site. That is very odd."

"Maybe the monster found out we were coming, and ran with its tail between its legs." Sonic II said arrogantly.

"Even you should know that it's never that easy." Silver told him.

"But think about it. I'm the best in the world. I'm the fastest thing alive, and I'm better than the original Sonic. Who would want to mess with me?" Sonic II smirked.

"My, what a humble guy you are." a new voice said sarcastically.

"What the...?" Sonic said.

"Sonic, duck!" Blue told him.

Sonic II did so, and just in time too as a blade passed over his head, aiming to cut it off. He instinctively jumped back a few feet and looked at their attacker.

It was a purple wolf by the looks of it. He had blood red eyes with slits for pupils, medium spiky hair, and half of his face was covered in black markings. He wore no cloths whatsoever, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was the left foot, for it wasn't an ordinary foot. It was a giant, red three-clawed foot, with red veins visible across the leg. Not only that, but a web of veins was also visible across his entire chest. The final touch was that attached to his right arm was a long black blade.

The heroes looked at the wolf in shock, realizing who this creature was.

"This has to be the monster that has been attacking Future City." Silver said.

"If it weren't for some of the obvious features standing out, you think he would be a normal person." Blaze said.

"Don't let his appearance decieve you." Blue stated. "He may not look like any of the monsters we have faced in the past, but I can tell that he is deadlier than all of them combined." He turned to the wolf. "Who are you?"

The wolf smirked at quartet of heroes. "Since you all want to know, the name's Reath!"

"Why are you attacking this city?" Blue asked him.

"Heh, wouldn't you like to know." Reath chuckled evilly.

"Well, whatever you're here for, I think you should leave before we end your existence and never come back." Silver said.

"Oh, is that a fact, 'psychy'?" Reath said to him with a smirk, annoying Silver.

"Okay, you're starting to get on our nerves." Blaze stated.

"Of course I am, 'kitty.'" Reath replied nonchalantly, a vein appearing on Blaze's forehead as a result.

"Okay, when did the monsters start to have attitudes?" Sonic II asked.

"I'm no ordinary monster. I'm real special, 'cloney.'" Reath stated.

"This guys is really getting on my nerves here." Silver stated.

"Yes, his personality is very different from the other monsters. It makes me wonder just what he really is." Blue stated.

"You right on that one." Reath replied. "I'm no ordinary monster like I said. I've got the powers, skills, and will to prove it. Now I've got a job to do, now if you will so kindly step aside, I can get back to work and we can forget this happened."

"Over our dead bodies." Silver told him.

"Well since you asked so nicely..." Reath said with a evil smirk.

In an instant, Reath had dashed toward Silver and swung his blade for his neckline. It was only thanks to instincts that Silver was able to duck in time. But the violet wolf used his normal foot to kick him in the chin, the impact sending him away.

"Silver!" Blaze shouted.

"You're next." Reath stated.

He turned and tried to stab Blaze in the gut. But the cat sidestepped him and swung her leg at the wolf. Reath brought his hand up to block it, and he smirked evilly. He then used his normal foot to strike her gut, causing her to spit out some blood. He then used his giant three clawed foot to slam her down to the ground and pin her.

"Now it's time to do some cutting." Reath said pointing his blade at Blaze.

"Not on my watch." A voice from behind said as two water-made hands wrapped around Reath's body.

He turned around to see Blue behind him, his arms extended. He used all his might to pull Reath and throw him towards one of the still standing buildings. He flew through the air, but he was able to regain himself, and landed feet-first on the side of the buiilding. He used the momentum to push himself off the building and towards Blue. He smirked as he shot towards Blue at a high speed, swinging his blade as soon as he got close to him. Blue lowered himself backwards swiftly, the blade just missing his head. Reath passed over him, and the monster wolf frowned at his failed attempt. But he turned hes head and saw he was heading towards Sonic II, who's chaos wrist blades were out and aimed for him.

"Hope you enjoy Hell!" Sonic II shouted.

He stabbed his chaos wrist blades foward at Reath, hoping he would run right into them. But the wolf moved his body backwards in mid-air, and his body moved out of the way of the chaos blades. He then propped his left hand under him, stopping himself, landing him upside down and right under Sonic II.

"What the...?" Sonic said.

"See ya." Reath grinned.

He then pushed himself upward, his right foot connecting with Sonic II's jaw...hard. The intense impact caused his mouth to spew blood and to send him flying straight into the air and out of sight. Reath landed on his feet, looking up into the sky where Sonic II used to be.

"Dang, now that's some height." he commented.

He then ducked as Blue tried to swipe his claws at him from behind. Reath turned around and brought his blade down on him, but Blue easily sidestepped. He stabbed his hand at him, but Reath dodged it. He then shot his right foot at Blue, but the clone of Chaos caught it and threw him away. Reath backflipped and landed on his feet, then jumped into the air, raising his arm and blade, and then shot down towards Blue, swinging his blade down on him. Blue timed it and caught the blade with his hands. It became a battle of strength as Reath used his arm strength to bring the blade down on the master, and Blue used his strength to keep the blade away from his head.

"You are a worthy opponent." Blue stated.

"Thanks. I try." Reath replied.

"But I don't think you should forget about my friends." Blue told him.

Then both Silver and Blaze appeared by him, flames in Blaze's hands and psychic energy in Silver's, catching Reath off-guard.

"This is payback for earlier." Silver stated.

"Hope you enjoy it." Blaze added.

They fired their attacks at the same time, both striking Reath in the chest. He was sent straight into one of the still standing buildings, creating a huge hole in it. He pulled himself out of the debris, slightly burnt from the attack, just in time to see a blue object diving out of the sky and towards him. Upon closer inspection, it was seen to be Sonic II, with a pissed off expression on his face.

"Eat this, bastard!" he yelled. He then curled into a ball, and enacted the famous Spin Dash.

He was hurling towards Reath at a high speed, but the monster wolf jumped out of the way in time as Sonic II crashed right intio the building. THe impact caused the building completely, leaving nothing but rubble. Sonic II popped out of the debirs, and pulled himself out of it, staring right at Reath.

"You're not going to win, you know." Sonic II stated.

"He's right." Blue said as he, along with Silver Blaze, stood face-to-face with Reath.

"Then I guess I 'll just have to even the odds." he replied, looking around. He then saw a jewelry shop still intact, the display showing some precious diamonds. He smirked as he jumped over there, and used his left hand to break the window.

"He's in the middle of a fight, and he's wants to steal jewelry now of all times!" Blaze exclaimed.

"I don't think he wants those diamons for money. Look." Blue pointed out.

Sure enough, Reath was somehow absorbing the diamons within the jewelry shop into his body. When he abosrbed them all, he turned towards the heroes, smirking evilly at them. He pointed his left hand towards them, causing the heroes to get some anxiety at what he was going to do.

"Time to put on a show." Reath stated.

He then fired a concentrated beam from his hand, catching everyone by surprise. They all jumped away as the beam struck the ground, but Reath didn't stop there. He began firing beams at all them at all directions. The heroes were in danger as they were doing everything they can to avoid the concentrated beams being fired all over the area from both hands of Reath.

"When the hell could he fire concentrated beams?" Silver asked, dodging a beam to the head.

"More importantly, how the hell are we going to get him?" Blaze asked, avoiding a beam to the chest.

"Leave it to me! I can get to him easily!" Sonic II told them with a smirk.

He was about to run towards Reath, but Blue pulled him back at the last minute. He formed a Chaos Lance in his hands and fired it at the ground in front of Reath. Smoke formed from the impact, obscuring his vision, momentarily stopping the beams. When it cleared, the heroes were no longer there. Reath smirked evilly at this prospect.

"Looks the game has become cat and mouse." Reath stated.

* * *

The heroes had regrouped a little ways off from the battle site, all of them panting a little.

"Why the hell did you stop me, Blue?" Sonic II shouted at the clone of Chaos. "I could have gotten to that freak and taken him out!"

"That's exactly what he wanted." Blue stated. "He knew your speed would get past his beams and to him. He knew you could, and when you got close enough, he would've killed you. He was laying a trap for you, and you nearly took the bait."

Sonic II was shocked to say the least, and couldn't believe he nearly fell into the trap.

"But when the hell could he fire beams from his hands?" Silver exclaimed. "Could he always do that?"

"If he could, he would've done so from the beginning." Blue told them. "Remember when he absorbed those diamonds. He used those concentrated beams afterwards. Somehow he gained that power when he absorbed them. That speaks for what his true power could be."

"But how the hell do we get near him?" Blaze questioned.

"I have created a plan for us to use." Blue revealed. "Listen very carefully."

* * *

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Reath said playfully as he walked through the streets of Future City looking for his prey.

Of course, his search ended when he saw Blaze step right in front of him down the street.

"Well, well, look what we've got here? If it ain't little kitty-kat. Where's the rest of your buddies?" Reath asked with a smirk.

"Like I tell you." Blaze told him.

"Oh well, looks like you'll have to do." Reath shrugged. Blaze noticed that he subtly took out some diamonds and absorbed them. Blaze was intrigued and decided to keep that in mind.

"Let's play."

Reath dashed toward Blaze and swung his blade at him. Blaze backed away from the strike, and shot a fireball at him in reataliation. Reath jumped over it and, in the air, began firing concentrated beams at her. Blaze moved all around the area, avoiding the beams as fast as she could. She tried to run towards him, but he fired a beam right in front of her, obstructing her vision. When she regained it, Reath appeared in front of her, planting a punch to the her stomach. She coughed up more blood as she fell to the ground. She tried to get up, but like before, Reath used his giant three clawed foot to pin her to the ground.

"I thought you would be more challenging." Reath told her. "Oh well. Guess we all can't have what we want."

"Too bad for you..." Blaze began. "That this was all part of our plan. Silver, Sonic! Now!"

Reath was taken by surpise, and he saw two shadows on the ground. He looked up to see Silver and Sonic II up in mid-air, thanks to Silver's telekinetic powers. Sonic II curled into a ball, and began spinning at a rapid pace, setting up for a Spin Dash, and Silver took aim. Reath realized what he was about to do, and he shout out his hand to fire a concentrated beam, but he was stopped when Blue came out of nowhere and grabbed a hold of his arms.

"Not this time." Blue said as he threw Reath straight into the air, towards Sonic and Silver.

"Game over, Reath!" Silver proclaimed.

He used his telekinetic powers to shoot Sonic II straight towards Reath at high speeds. Sonic II's Spin Dash made contact with Reath in mid-air, causing him to spit out blood and some of it to start leaking from his mouth. Sonic II drove Reath straight into the ground with a hrad impact, creating a crater at the spot. Reath laid there in the crater, spitting blood out of his mouth and clutching his ribs.

"Damn, you may have broken a few of my ribs." he stated.

The four heroes surrounded the lying monster in a circle, staring at him intensely,

"It's over, Reath." Blue stated.

There was a chuckle from Reath at this statement, and then it turned into full blown laughter, catching the heroes off guards. The monster wolf sat up and stood on his feet, clutching his ribs.

"On the contrary, it has only just begun." Reath stated.

He then fired one last concentrated beam at the ground. The impact caused a cloud of smoke to form around the heroes. Their vision was obscured, and as they coughed among the smoke, they could hear his voice.

"We'll meet again, Sonic Heroes. You can count on that."

When the smoke settled, Reath had disappeared.

"He's gone." Silver stated.

"He used the distraction to get away. This is not good. We don't need someone like that monster on the loose." Blaze said.

"There's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is wait for him to show up again, and then tae him out. For now, we must prepare. Let us get back to our lesson on Chaos Energy. We need to be prepared for anything, especially after this." Blue stated.

The heroes stood there for a while. First Nazo was revived, then Nega escaped, and now a deadly monster wolf is on the loose. When will the problems stop forming for them?

* * *

Nazo sat on his throne as Mephiles appeared before him.

"My lord, I have recieved word that Reath has fought the heroes. He was a great challenge for them, but he still lost. But he was able to escape." Mephiles informed him.

"Good. That works just fine for us." Nazo stated with a smirk. "He'll be sure to keep those heroes busy long enough."

"Lord Nazo, I am curious." Mephiles said. "What makes Reath special? What makes him so different from the other monsters you've created?"

"I'm glad you asked, Mephiles. But now is not the right time to reveal what he is to anyone. When it is though, no one will see it coming. But for now, we must search for a new base of operations. Go send out your servants, and find us a base." Nazo ordered.

"At once, my lord." Mephiles then left Nazo's presence to do so.

Nazo smirked evilly as he thought about his newest creation. "Reath...you truly are one of a kind."

**When it couldn't get any worse, the deadliest monster ever has arrived on the Sonic Heroes' doorstep. Just what is Reath? What makes so special from the other monsters? And will Sonic II be able to truly master the Sonic Wind? Find out in the next Sonic Heroes.**


	3. Hunters

**Sonic Heroes: Millennium**

**P.S. Anyone that can find the hidden reference in the chapter will receive a prize.**

Hunters

Everything was a little quiet within the base of Eggman Nega. Black and white decorated the station from head to toe. A little dust filled the place and several cobwebs could be seen in some of the corners and spaces due to its time of inactive use. Lights were shining on the dark base, revealing several unfinished machines around and computers attached to the walls. But the rest of the place was completely empty, almost nothing occupied the space. Not even a working robot or machine was seen within the halls of the lab. We soon join Nega in front of his main computer, angry and steaming over a certain matter.

"Damn it!" Nega cursed. "Why didn't I fill this useless station with supplies when I had the chance? Because of it, I now have nothing to build my machines with. I was lucky to have the Nega Reaper already finished and working when I arrived here, but with it destroyed, I have nothing to work with! Damn it all! What am I supposed to do now without the supplies to work with?"

Nega was completely furious at his mistake. He thought for sure he would come back with a bang, but this setback was unbelievable. He slammed his fist down on the keyboard in frustration, and it turned the screen on in TV mode, showing the news channel.

"What the...?" Nega said startled.

"Later today, Stark Industries will be presenting a new discovery that is said to revolutionize technology as we know it." a female reporter announced. "They will be showing their presentation at their factory later today. With what Stark Industries has given us over the years, we can only imagine what they have in store for us."

Eggman Nega stared at the screen, taking in what he just heard. Suddenly an evil smile crept up to his face.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of this before?" Nega shouted. "Stark Industries is the leading technological provider in the world, as well as a major weapons producer! I can get all the supplies and resources I need to continue my work from them! And who knows, if this new discovery is what people say it is, I might just take it as well!"

Nega laughed evilly at the idea, but then he stopped as he realized something.

"Wait a minute! How am I going to raid Stark Industries? I don't have any machines or robots to use to storm the factory! How am I going to steal the supplies?" Nega then began to ponder over what he was going to do, sitting down in a chair all the while. Eventually, after several minutes, he remembered something.

"Of course! Why didn't I remember sooner?" Nega stood up out of his chair and began running across his base. He came to some iron clad doors, with a keypad next to them.

"At one point, I stored a cash of several of my best robots here, in case of emergencies! Oh, why didn't I remember this before?" He pressed several numbers on the keypad, and the results were the iron clad doors opening, unveiling the content within.

"Yes! With these machines, it is certain I will get what I need from Stark Industries! And nothing is going to stop me!" Nega proclaimed as burning red eyes awakened in the darkness.

* * *

Hours later, people have gathered around the factory of Stark Industries. Tens of thousands of people of all kinds were crowded around the area, chatting and talking amongst themselves over this huge event, so loudly that they could be heard a mile away. Reporters from every news station were clamored with the crowd, cameras and all, just waiting to get the next big story. Several stations present included The Future News, Techno Report, and The Hover Times.

"As you can see, thousands of people have gathered..." A male blue fox from The Future News reported.

"Anticipation is in the air as the world waits for..." A male yellow cat from Techno Report announced.

"It is said that this invention will revolutionize the world..." A red female wolf from The Hover Times reported.

Everyone had gathered in front of a one-story with clear glass door and windows that connected to the main factory. But one couldn't see what was inside through the glass in front due to the darkness inside. Because of the hype created by the event, G.U.N. had been called to duty as active security. Most of them were placed barriers between them and the factory to keep the crowd at a safe distance. Snipers and skilled marksmen were carefully settled on the rooftops, adding to the extra...insurance. And despite the restless crowd before them, nothing was more unsettling than the G.U.N. commander and her greatest soldier...yelling.

"Why shouldn't I be on the front lines with you?" Kumori complained. "I'm just as capable as you!"

"It's not a question of your skill." Shadow said obliviously. "But you are the G.U.N. commander and are needed with your men."

"But being the Commander means that I'm the one in charge" Kumori replied in a dignified manner, attempting to push past him. "What I say goes! And what I say is that I'm going to be up there with you!"

"Not so fast." Shadow said warningly, throwing his hand out in front. "Just because you're the commander doesn't mean you have the strength or authority to control me. As I recall it, I am supposed to be the leader of our little group."

"The Heroes, maybe." Kumori glared. "But this is government matters..."

"And the Heroes were called in on top priority." Shadow interjected. Kumori huffed and crossed arms as she looked away from her mate - she was beaten. Sighing irritably, Shadow slowly rested a hand on her shoulder. "All right, here's the deal. If anything goes wrong, you can assist me up front."

Kumori wanted desperately to argue, but it wasn't often that Shadow would provide such a tempting offer. Knowing that Stark Industries was a major weapons producer, it was sure to attract some potential threats. With the thought in mind, Kumori turned on her heels and walked back to her troops, never saying a word to the Ultimate Life-Form. Shadow rubbed his pounding forehead tiredly.

"Woman." Shadow muttered.

Sighing at this, he turned on his heels, walking towards the factory to make sure everything went smoothly for this presentation.

Half an hour had passed, and the presentation had yet to start. The crowd was getting even more restless, becoming vocal of wanting to see the presentation now.

"I wonder what's taking them so long." Kumori said out loud.

"Maybe their just making sure everything is prepared before going through with this presentation." a soldier suggested.

"Hey, what do you think they're going to show us?" another asked.

"Considering what they've built over the years, I can't really predict what they might show to us today." Kumori replied.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a voice said over the megaphones around the area. "Please welcome at this time, Stark Industries executive, Obadiah Stane."

The crowd clapped in response as Obadiah came out. He was a elder bald man appearing around his late thirties with a scraggly grey beard with hints of black. He wore a black leisure suit with high-polished dress shoes and a yellow checkered tie. Obadiah walked to greet the crowd in a casual manner to the stand, waving to the crowd absentmindedly. Shadow was watching from a distance, keeping a close eye over Obadiah as he approached the podium. When everything seemed to be in order, Obadiah raised a hand to successfully silence the crowd.

"Thank you all for coming." he told them. "First off, I would like to say I'm sorry that Tony Stark could not be here today, but he has some important matters to attend to, so I am here presenting this in his place."

"He's off in Puerto Rico with the Russian swimsuit models." Kumori informed her soldiers, leaving them dumbfounded.

"Now that we have that cleared up," Obadiah began. "Let's get on with the presentation. Now, for years, Stark Industries has been a major weapons producer. We have created some of the greatest weapons in the world, and have supplied it to this great country. But people have been saying we are merchants of death. That we can do nothing but create weapons. That we can't give the world something that doesn't destroy. But we are here to prove those critics wrong. I am proud to announce the presentation of the invention that will revolutionize the world...the Arc Reactor!"

The lights in the building flashed with a magnificent flare, stunning all those who would marvel at the newest addition to Stark Industries. The Arc Reactor was a spherical shell with a red right hook on its side, but what was inside grabbed all the attention. The Arc Reactor contained a powerful collection of tame electrical energy surrounding it, humming in a repetitive tone. Some were reminded of the static generators build in previous times and wondered how it was any different. But Shadow could sense the difference. The Ultimate Life-Form could not resist the cold chill running down his spine - he had not felt this kind of power since Nazo.

"The Arc Reactor is a breakthrough in technology." Obadiah explained proudly. "It is a clean, efficient power source perfect for ideal energy. It has enough energy to power up this factory for over 50 lifetimes, not once causing any pollution to the environment. With this breakthrough, we now have a limitless power that will become beneficial to our daily lives. Ladies and gentlemen, Stark Industries has done the unthinkable: we have created the ideal power source."

The crowd clapped loudly for the achievement of Stark Industries and pictures were being taken everywhere to get a good shot of Obadiah and the Arc Reactor. Finally, Stark Industries truly created something that could benefit the world as a whole.

"Very interesting technology. I might just take it for myself." a voice spoke from above.

Everyone turned around towards the source of the voice, looked outside of the building through the clear windows and doors, and up above in the sky in front of the building was Eggman Nega, in all his glory, floating right there in his black and white Eggmobile.

"Who are you?" Obadiah asked him, clearly shocked by his appearance.

"I am Eggman Nega, evil genius and greatest scientific mind in the world." he proclaimed. "I'm here to crash this party you have."

"What are you doing here Nega?" Shadow questioned, walking into Nega's view.

"Oh Shadow, you're here." Nega said mockingly. "I didn't really plan for this, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Answer the question." Shadow said seriously.

"My, my, your impatient today. Oh well, guess I'll tell you." Nega said; his Eggmobile floating diligently overhead. "You see, unfortunately, my supplies are running very low, I thought that where better to get the supplies I need than Stark Industries. And what you say of this Arc Reactor intrigues me. So it looks like I'll just be taking the "ideal power source" with me as well."

"Not going to happen, Nega." Shadow replied. "If what you say is true, then you have no machines to even pull this off with."

"Shadow, Shadow, Shadow." Nega shook his head, grinning amusingly. "If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I'm always prepared."

The scientist promptly snapped his fingers, and immediately, eight figures appeared behind Nega, jumping into the air over him and landing on the ground in front of Shadow, Obadiah, and the crowd.

They were 8 high-standard machines lined up exactly. They had white dome heads with glowing red electronic eyes with human-shaped structures. Each one had black body torsos with white markings, coated with sleek and strong armor, legs with white armor and red metal shoes, and spiked black pads on their knees and shoulders. But each one had a difference among them. One had machine guns in place of his hands, another with long, sharp claws, one saw discs for hands, one had giant power fists, another had round cannons for hands, and the sixth one had a long black sword with chaos brimming around the edges. The other two showed no difference about them, but you could tell they had something as well.

The crowd panicked at the sight of these menacing machines, running away as fast as they could to safety. The security guards broke in response to the invasion and direct the crowd away from the area. Nega smirked at Shadow, feeling very confident about his chances.

"Now Shadow, if you would be so kind as to step out of the way so I can get what I need." Nega said warningly. "Then again, I am always eager to see by elites at work."

"Mr. Stane, I suggest you leave right now." Shadow informed Obadiah.

"But the Arc Reactor..." Obadiah argued

"I'll keep the Arc Reactor safe, but you need to leave now!" Shadow commanded.

Seeing no way to argue, Obadiah, with escorted by professional gunmen, escaped out the back way before he could get into any danger. Once reassured that the balding man was safe, Shadow turned back to Nega's elites - sparks of pure Chaos radiated in his fists. Meanwhile, Kumori was watching the entire incident distance, throwing down her binoculars with a frustrated growl.

"Damn it! Of all the times Nega had to go with another of his schemes..." Kumori snapped heated, turned towards her soldiers. "Listen up, men! I need you to get these bystanders get out of here as fast as you can! I'll stay here and help Shadow take care of Nega!"

"Yes Ma'am!" the soldiers said in unison.

"I knew I should have been up front." Kumori sneered.

Closer to the Arc Reactor generator, Shadow steadily raised his fists in a defensive position as the elite androids cautiously circled the Ultimate Life-Form. The jet-black hedgehog could tell that Eggman Nega had been saving these specific machines for a special occasion – they weren't made by Nega's usual standards.

"Now Shadow, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Nega offered

"Hard way." Shadow said sharply.

"Surprise, surprise." Nega said sarcastically. "If that's the way you want it...then Nega Elite! ATTACK!"

The eight machines known as the Nega Elite sprang into action. The one known as the Gun Elite fired its machine guns at Shadow, and the Ultimate Life-Form jumped away, the bullets destroying the stage into process. The Claw Elite shot his chained claws at the hedgehog, but he was able to sidestepped. He formed a Chaos Spear and shot it at the elites, but the Sword Elite destroyed the Spear with a swipe from it sword. The Flame Elite jumped into the air and shot flamethrowers from its cannons down on the black hedgehog. Shadow was able to react in time to jump away just as the flames hit the ground. But emerging from the flames was the Sword Elite, shooting straight towards the Ultimate Life-Form. Shadow was taken off-guard as the Sword Elite to swing its sword at him. But before it could, Kumori came out of nowhere and promptly kicked it in the head, sending him in the wall of the building.

"Kumori!" Shadow exclaimed.

"Hey, you said if anything happened, I could assist you." Kumori told him as she landed beside him, and turned towards him. "Right?"

"Just don't get in my way." Shadow snorted.

"As long as you stay out of mine." Kumori stated playfully.

"Of course." Nega groaned inwardly before turning away. "You take one and receive the other. No mater, Nega Elite, take care of them while I do a little shopping.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kumori yelled hurriedly. The prototype jumped and attempted a swift kick to the round scientist, but a Nega Elite stood in her path and blocked the way. The other seven surrounded the two menacingly, and Shadow and Kumori stood back-to-back, showing no fear. "Looks like we're not getting out of this that easy."

"It's wouldn't be much of a fight if it was." Shadow smirked, looking over his shoulder to face his wife. "The usual wager?"

"The one who destroys the least amount of robots does laundry for the next month." Kumori laughed excitedly. "And I'm not losing this time around.

We'll just see." Shadow said confidently. The Ultimate Life-Form made a quick snatch for his belt, withdrawing the silver gun that acted as his signature weapon. With a flip of the switch and an impulse of Chaos Energy, the fire arm was transformed into a silver handle with a yellow blade of pure Chaos. "The question is who's first?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Eggman Nega wandering through the wide factory, looking very much like a child waking up on Christmas morning. Rows upon rows of steel shelves continued every single product that was created through the combined ingenuity of Howard and Tony Stark, the world's most brilliant minds. Well, second greatest in Nega's personal opinion. His silvery-grey mustache twitched with pure excitement as he reached out to grab anything he could get his grubby little hands on before throwing them into the Egg-Mobile.

"Ooh, I always wanted my own atomizer!" Nega cackled greedily, throwing the device over his shoulder. "And a few techno-pads wouldn't hurt – maybe a few hundred will suffice. And who could forget the old proton laser." The round scientist held the weapon to his chest, sighing in content. "This is absolute paradise."

"Like what you see."

Almost immediately, Eggman Nega dropped the proton laser and swiftly buried his hand into his pockets. The round scientist turned on his heels almost immediately, withdrawing a standard pistol and holding it up in a threatening manner. But when the newest character came into view, Nega blinked out of curiosity.

"What are you doing here?" Nega questioned cluelessly.

* * *

Shadow dodged the bullets the Gun Elite rapidly shot at him, and swung his chaos sword at it. It jumped into the air to avoid it, revealing the Saw Elite. It swung one of its chainsaw discs at Shadow, and the Ultimate Life-Form brought up his sword to block it in time. Shadow struggled to keep the Elite at bay as its saws spun hazardously across his chaos sword. Shadow then felt something behind him, and he turned his head towards the sky. The Sword Elite was coming down from the sky, and struck his sword down on him. Shadow moved out of the way in time, allowing both the saw and the sword to collide with the ground. Shadow felt himself suddenly being lifted off the ground by an invisible force before being blown back into the floor. He was punched several more times in the face and in the gut, and then the Fist Elite appeared before him and delivered a strong uppercut. He flew back several feet before landing on his feet, and formed a hundred Chaos Spears around him in response.

**"Chaos Bombardment!" **Shadow snarled furiously.

He launched all the spears at the four Elites, but before they could hit their target, the machines jumped out of the quickly.

Kumori sidestepped a strike from the Claw Elite, and it thrust its claws at Kumori. The GUN Commander jumped back in response a few feet. The Elite then shot his chain claw right at her, but she rolled out of the way as it passed her. The Flame Elite then showed up and shot flames at her deadly fast. She jumped away before the flames could reach her, landing a few feet away. The Shuriken Elite began spinning its arms around its a rapid pace, firing a shower of shuriken at Kumori. She ran at super speeds to avoid the shuriken, but she forgot about the final Elite. The Explosive Elite shot a string made of explosives from its torso right into the path of Kumori. She didn't notice the explosive as she kept running until it was too late. As she soon as was close to it, it exploded up right in her face. It blew her away, but she was able to land right on her feet.

"Damn it!" Kumori screamed outrageously, dodging the chain claw of the Claw Elite.

"I have to give Nega his props for these Nega Elite." Shadow stated as he clashed with the Sword Elite. "They're stronger than most of the robots we've fought in the past."

"Yeah, but he always manages to screw something up." Kumori rebutted

The Claw Elite once fired his chain claw at Kumori, but she easily rolled out of the way before it reached her. The Explosive Elite launched a string explosive right at her feet. Kumori saw it though, and an idea popped into her head. She began to run at super-speed just as it exploded, and she rode the blast wave of the explosion, increasing her speed. The Explosive Elite had no time to react as Kumori pierced its torso with her foot. She landed gracefully as the Elite blew up behind her.

"One down, seven to go." she stated.

Suddenly, a claw sliced her right arm out of nowhere. Kumori screamed in pain as she held her right arm, blood pouring from the deep cuts. She looked to see the Claw Elite, its chain claw coming back into place. Kumori narrowed her eyes as it shot one of its chain claws again. She ducked it, but the Elite shot its other chain claw at Kumori. She moved her body to the side so it passed by her. Reacting on instinct, she grabbed the chain that connected the claw to the Elite, and used her might to spin it around. The Elite was picked off the ground and was spun around at a intense pace.

"This is payback time, bitch!" Kumori exclaimed shrilly. "Shadow, heads up!"

With all her might, she tossed the Elite to her husband, who was fighting off the Sword Elite. He turned his head to see the Claw Elite coming to him, and got the message. He kicked the Sword Elite away and turned around. Once close enough, Shadow sliced the Elite clean in half. The remains passed by him and exploded. Shadow felt please by his own accomplishment, but was brought back to reality by an unseen strike to his abdomen, indicating the Fist Elite's prescence. Shadow was punched several more times by the invisible Elite before a final strike that sent him flying. The black hedgehog landed on his feet, recovering from the blows.

"This one is tough to deal with!" Shadow stated.

He suddenly remembered something about his other senses, and had an idea. He closed his eyes, and concentrated his focus to his hearing. He began to listen to every little sound in the area, including the distant fighting between Kumori and her Elites. And then he heard it, the sounds of metal footsteps heading towards him from the right. With the invisibility cloak on, the Fist Elite came up to him and threw one of its power fists at him. Shadow heard it, and dodged it. He grabbed the invisible arm and kept the Elite in place.

"You're not going anywhere." Shadow stated coldly.

He sliced the arm off the Elite, and then swung around and sliced its head off. The invisibility was turned off, revealing the body of the Elite, just before it blew up right in front of Shadow. The Ultimate Life-Form smirked at his work, but then his chaos sword was shot out of his hand all of a sudden. Shadow grunted in pain as the sword handle landed on the ground. He turned his head to find the Gun Elite with its machine guns ready. It commenced a rapid fire of bullets at Shadow, and the hedgehog back flipped away from the bullets. When he landed on the ground, the Saw Elite came up behind him and thrust his saw discs at him. Shadow rolled out of the way as the saw struck the ground. Then the Sword Elite came down from the sky and stabbed its sword down towards him. Shadow jumped out of the way as the sword stabbed into the ground. As he landed on his feet, the three Elites charged straight ahead at the Ultimate Life-Form, but...

**"Chaos Control!"** Shadow yelled.

He then disappeared in a flash of light. The Elites stopped in their tracks, searching for the black hedgehog. Shadow reappeared behind the Saw Elite, put his hands together, and formed a large yellow arrow.

**"Chaos Lance!"**

He fired the Chaos Lance right into the back of the Saw Elite, which tore it apart and destroyed. The other two turned around to their comrade be destroyed by Shadow. Meanwhile, the Shuriken Elite was shooting a volley of shuriken at Kumori. She was outrunning the shower of shuriken, but then the Flame Elite jumped into her path and shot a flurry of flames at her. Reacting, she jumped over the flames, landed behind it, and swung around and connected her foot to its dome head, sending it away. Suddenly, three shuriken sliced her left leg and arm. She hissed in pain as she turned towards the Shuriken Elite. Deciding it needed to go next, she ran towards the Elite at high speeds. The machine launched a shower of shuriken at her, but she anticipated it. The GUN Commander jumped into the air, avoiding the shuriken. The Elite looked into the air and Kumori was suspended up there for a moment, and then spun down towards the machine at a fast. Before it could fire its shuriken, Kumori slammed her foot down on the dome head, crushing it in.

"Looks like I still got it." Kumori said confidently, playfully throwing her quills.

Meanwhile, Shadow was forced to outmaneuver the bullets the Gun Elite was shooting at him in a rapid motion. He turned his head to Kumori, and saw that the Flame Elite was sneaking up behind her. Thinking quickly, he saw his sword handle and grabbed it from the ground, still outrunning the bullets from the Elite. He created his chaos sword again, and jumped towards it. He landed in front of it, and before the Elite could fire at him, he sliced off one of its guns and stabbed in the torso, ending its life. He then took a hold of the other machine gun, and aimed it at the Flame Elite. Before it could incinerate Kumori into ashes, a volley of bullets struck it all over, destroying it. Kumori turned around to see the remains of the Elite, and then turned to see Shadow holding the machine gun, smoke coming out of the barrels. Kumori smiled at him, but then saw something behind him.

"Shadow, look out!" she warned him.

Reacting, Shadow jumped away from the dead Elite as the Sword Elite sliced it into with its sword. The Ultimate Life-Form skillfully back flipped before landing, holding his saber out in front as the Sword Elite approached for a second strike. The two mighty warriors clashed with a resonating grind, attempting to push the other back with pure strength. But the fact remained that they were still locked in a total stalemate. The machine and the Ultimate Life-Form raid their feet and pressed against each other, throwing the other back by several feet. Shadow skidded to a halt in front of his beloved, who attempt to offer her assistance.

"Kumori, stay back." Shadow commanded, throwing his hand out to halt her movements. "He's mine."

Shadow readied his chaos sword, and the Elite did the same. They both charged at each other, their swords clashing with one another. Shadow swung his sword at the Elite. It blocked it with its sword, and pushed it away to swing its blade at him. Shadow ducked it, and stabbed his chaos sword at the Elite. It sidestepped the strike, and swung for Shadow's head. He bent his body backwards and the sword swung above him. He stood back up and swung his sword down on the machine. The Sword Elite brought its blade up to block the strike, and Shadow was using all his strength to push its blade down toward its head. But it was able to push him away, and the two began to clash at a extremely fast pace. Their swords were clashing faster than the normal eye could see, and at the end, the two jumped away from each other. They then charged at each other one more time, and once close enough, the swung their swords at each other. All was silent, as they landed with their backs to each other. Nothing seemed to have happened, but then the upper body of the Sword Elite began to slide off the lower portion, and the two portions exploded.

"Game over." Shadow smirked victoriously

"NO! My beautiful Elite!" The hedgehogs snapped their heads to the sky, watching Nega make his getaway. "This isn't over, Shadow! I'll be back and more powerful than ever! Just wait and see!"

By that time, Nega had already escaped beyond the cloud line – Shadow kicked at the ground in frustration.

"Damn it!" Shadow cursed. "He's just as difficult as Eggman. At it was astonishing that even he got away."

"Don't worry; there will always be a next time." Kumori said comfortingly, kissing her husband's cheek gently. "By the way, I like extra starch in my coats."

The Ultimate Life-Form snapped his head in a confused manner, watching his wife merrily walk away. In all the commotion, Shadow had completely forgotten to keep count of their little wager. The jet-black hedgehog realized that he had somehow been caught in an argument he couldn't win. He'll need to pick up some detergent later. In the twenty minutes following Nega's assault, G.U.N. had completely blocked off the factor to the public, but that didn't stop the paparazzi from trying to sneak in. Kumori had issued the order for the remains of the Nega Elites to be transferred to Megalo Station, where they would be put through a full diagnostic by E-123 Omega. Shadow picked up the blade of the Sword Elite, throwing it into the discarded piles, when one of the scavenger marched in a stood at attention to the hedgehogs.

"Sir, we have just completed a full inventory scan with Mr. Stane." The solider reported. "He claims that nothing was stolen."

"You're sure?" Shadow questioned surprisingly.

"Mr. Stane confirmed it." The soldier answered, scratching his head. "But...why would Nega just leave without taking anything?"

It was a question that completely baffled G.U.N., the Sonic Heroes, and the scuttling reporters. Eggman Nega had the perfect opportunity to pillage and he didn't swipe a thing. Something was out of place. Meanwhile, our attention is drifted to the swarming crowd building outside the Arc Reactor station. Ignoring the constant jabs and shoves from the news hungry audience, one solitary figure stared thoroughly through the gaps and directed his attention at the two hedgehogs. The shadowed character was unseen due to the leather-brown coat covering his body and the dirty-brown fedora overshadowing his face. Even amongst the booming crowd, the character clearly heard the low ring of his cell phone and answered without haste.

"Yes sir?" The man answered.

_"Progress report." _The correspondent questioned sternly.

"Don't worry." The character stated collectively. "I'm keeping a close eye on them."

_"A lot is riding on the success of this mission.__" _The correspondent proclaimed sharply._ "__Failure is not an option.__"_

"I never fail." The character replied darkly.

The mysterious man quickly snapped his cell phone closed, nearly breaking the communication device in two. How dare he make such a accusation. Has his record and loyalty to the organization not proven his worth. The man only grumbled a steady stream of curses under his breath, forcefully shoving the cell phone into his pocket. The unknown character slowly broke free from the crowd as to not arouse any suspicion – the sudden breach of light gleamed against the silver badge pinned to his coat.

**S.W.O.R.D.**

* * *

Back at Nega's base, the scientist was sitting in his chair in front of his main computer, feeling elated over the events that had taken place. He may have lost his most valuable machines in the process, but the spoils of war were much more precious than the loss of a few messily trinkets. The grey-haired scientist turned in his seat and stared lovingly at the range of weapons and electronic he had successfully acquired. There were so many experiments and creations in his future. But the fun didn't end there. The door to the room opened swiftly as several workers entered Eggman Nega's sanctorum, each one carrying product that carried the label of Stark Industries. It was pleasing to know that they didn't ask questions as long as they were getting paid – money was a great incentive. As the last of the carrier dropped off their shipment, Nega turned in his seat and faced the computer monitor, typing in a very specific sequence. The call must have been expect as Nega received an answer straight away.

_"I trust you are enjoying my generosity, Nega."_ The image said politely.

"Very much." Nega nodded happily. "With this much technology, I will be set for a few years. As long as those meddlesome heroes don't keep getting in my way. You have already seen how meddlesome they can be."

_"Just keep your end of the deal, Nega."_ The image said warningly. _"I secretly ship you the necessary supplies and you provide me with something valuable in return."_

"Of course, of course." Nega nodded respectfully. "Speaking of which, what is it that you want me to build, anyway."

_"This is a very special project."_ The image responded lightly. A moment passed before the holo-vid was replaced by a well-planned schematic of a large project – Nega seemed at a loss for words. _"I managed to find these blueprints in the more secure files. I feel that you are capable of creating such a weapon."_

"I must admit, even I had never thought to build such a design." Nega muttered pleasingly. "The height-weight ratio, the biometric interface, and the source of its power – everything is nearly flawless! Of course, I could improve on some parts."

_"Just get the job done." _The image said warningly.

"Whatever you say, Obadiah." Nega chuckled.

Knowing that the barging had been made, Obadiah Stane cut off all communications before either of them was discovered. Eggman Nega could resist the urge to cheer and pushed himself away from the desk, spinning around in his seat like a giddy child. Everything was going perfectly. Nega had connections with the largest weapons manufacturer, the Sonic Heroes were beyond clueless, and a new swarm of Nega robots was just waiting to be built. Everything was right with the world. However, in Nega's jubilation, he failed to see where he was going and smacked into the far side wall, which collapsed inwardly upon impact. Nega had built this base over the former sectors of his ancestor's previous stations, meaning it was possibly older than Future City itself. From the moment the fragment of wall dropped, a mound of dirt and rock formed an avalanche that covered nearly half of the chamber. Eggman Nega chose a specific few curses when finding himself half buried in gravel.

"The first thing I'm going to do is tear down this rusted excuse for a base." Nega grumbled, brushing the dirt off his coat. But against the brown and grey of the dirt mound, the round scientist noticed something buried gravel. "Now what do we have here." He took a moment to brush the dirt away, grinning ear-to-ear upon his discovery. "Oh, this day just keeps getting better by the minute."

Despite the dusty and worn appearance, Eggman Nega marveled at the beauty of the mechanical marvel he had discovered. A black machine with a body structure similar to the hedgehog mostly composed of jet-black armor with few red marks on its legs and wrists. It's height was average with the hedgehogs and had curved six spikes in the back of its head – a red highlight on each – white/red feet, sterling silver claws, and a white cape tied around its waist. Despite the fact that it seemed old and completely shut down, Nega felt that he had just found the rarest treasure in the universe.

"It's nice to finally meet you..." Nega grinned deviously. "Mecha Shadow."

* * *

**Secret deals and strange discoveries abound as questions arise from everywhere. What will come of Stane's and Nega's deal? Who was the strange figure within the crowd? And what will Nega do with Mecha Shadow's shell? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes.**


	4. Jungle Mayhem

**Sonic Heroes: Millennium**

Jungle Mayhem

The scenery takes place within the barren outskirts of Future City's southern reaches, far from the praying eyes of any heroes and interlopers. And that's just what one such as Nazo and his followers could hope for. A series of catacombs and corridors were hidden beneath the stiff wastelands that served as the Dark Ruler's newest accommodations. Mephiles' creations swarmed and scurried throughout the hollow chambers to please their masters, never crossing the God of Darkness if he were to ever appear. But they didn't have to worry. At the present moment, Nazo remained seating in a stiff throne that was reminiscent to his place in the castle of the Dark Ruler's castle. At his left side, Mephiles the Dark stood patiently.

"Where is he?" Mephiles questioned collectively, but very annoyed. "Reath knows not to keep Lord Nazo waiting for fear of elimination. I can only hope he arrives soon...for his sake.

"No worries, my dear friend." Nazo responded smoothly. "Reath is an important piece to the puzzle and he knows this. He can walk freely without fear of his own demise." His hand gripped the armrest firmly, cracking the stone. "But that doesn't mean I can't cause him unbearable suffering.

"Good point." The Dark Rulers turned their attention to the doorway, finding the disfigured monster nonchalantly entering. "Yo, what's with all the serious looks? Someone kill your goldfish or something.

"Or something." Mephiles sighed, rubbing his pulsing forehead. "I honestly question your integrity."

"Hey, I'm here now, aren't I?" Reath chuckled. "Don't get so worked up over this."

"Enough." Nazo said calmly, but still striking fear into his minions. "He is here, and that's all that matters. Now, if you please."

The temporally demon glared spitefully at the unenthusiastic Reath, who was cleaning his ears out with his fingers. Mephiles shuddered in disgust and returned his attention to their leader. Speaking of whom, the God of Darkness waved his hand out in front and summoned a pillar of stone at his feet that rose to within arms reached. A second twitch of the hand, the stone was cut and fragmented into a checkered pattern, creating a small chess table. To add to emphasis, miniature figures of the oppositions of the new war were placed on the board, each representing the three factors. The Sonic Heroes, the Dark Rulers, and Eggman Nega. But today's meeting was too important that Nazo didn't bother to question to new player in Nega's factor.

"Chess?" Reath said disappointed. "That's an old man's game. How 'bout something with a little more flare?

"Silence." Nazo said sharply; Reath winced. "We have more important matters than your pathetic whims. As you may recall, my children were scattered to the four corners of the Earth following the conflict against the demon-witch: Kizun."

"The Chaos Emeralds." Mephiles stated.

"Exactly." Nazo nodded. He waved his hand over the chessboard, summoning holographic images of the seven gems. "It has been two hundred painful years since I have been able to hold the beginning of my reign. And if we have any intention of winning this war, we need to recapture them."

"Lord Nazo, allow me the opportunity to retrieve the emeralds." Mephiles bowed respectfully.

"Actually, I plan of having Reath follow this mission." Nazo informed. Reath jumped back awkwardly, but Mephiles remained in his position. "Though Reath has proven to be a valuable asset in our mission, he has yet to truly prove himself capable of following through against Sonic and his allies. Think of this as a little test."

"And if he fails?" Mephiles muttered, never leaving his eyes from the floor.

"Use your imagination." Nazo smirked; Mephiles was satisfied. "Reath, this is a chance you cannot let get away. I have already located one of the Chaos Emeralds in the heart of Mazuri. Find it and retrieve it by any means necessary."

"Any means?" Reath repeated hopefully, twitching his claws eagerly. "Like say...if I ran into some interference?"

"Do what you wish." Nazo said coolly.

"Oh, I intend to." Reath said excitedly.

* * *

The scenery alternates to the growing continent of Mazuri. In the heart of the country was a wide, vast jungle that went on for several hundreds of miles. Vines, palm trees, poison ivy, and shrubs were just few of the plants that inhabited the jungle. Lions hunted their prey and giraffes ate from the trees as animals lived harmoniously with the jungle. Deep within it, there was an ancient temple that was reminiscent of the Mayan temples, a small tower at the very top, long colorful fabrics tied to the trees surrounding it. A small team of archaeologist, about eight, could be seen along the edge of the temple, digging all around to find anything they could. And with the eight, were two figures that we were all familiar with.

"Isn't this exciting?" Tikal asked cheerily.

"Yeah..." Metal said in a drawling manner

Tikal smiled as she continued to dig through the ground along with the rest of their team. Assigned by their company, they had come to Mazuri to collect artifacts for Mazuri was once the location of an ancient civilization. Tikal kept digging through the ground until her tool hit something hard. She dropped to the ground, and brushed away the dirt. She reached into the ground, and pulled out an ancient miniature statue of a dragon.

"Look Metal!" Tikal exclaimed. "I found a dragon statue. Look at the architecture on it. Truly unique." Metal just stared absently. "Would you mind putting it with the others, Metal?"

The metallic warrior growled lowly under his nonexistent breathe, snatching valuable stone from the echidna's hand. He carelessly tossed the statue over his shoulder, startling the team of archeologists standing not too far from them. Fortunately enough, on of the researchers took a dive to the ground and captured the delicate artifact in his open palm – the others sighed in relief.

"Honestly, how do they get top bill in this search?" The leading researcher complained.

"Government connections." One subdominant muttered bitterly.

This archeological dig has been going on for six days with tensions running high between two members of the Sonic Heroes and the following workers, but mostly Metal. Tikal had earned a legal degree several years previously in archeology due to her "Advanced studies" on echidna history. It's not exactly common to meet a four thousand year-old woman that existed before recorded history. Metal was only Tikal's assistant for heavy lifting and other similar factors. While it was bitter work, the pay was well worth it. Although today, the metallic doppelganger seemed less enthusiastic than his business partner, which was drawing a curious stare from the echidna. After watching Metal violently ripping at the dirt, possibly crushing would-be artifacts, the ancient priestess stood up, brushed herself, and confronted the warrior.

"Metal, are you alright?" she asked worriedly. "Something seems wrong with you.

"You should go back to Future City, Tikal." he said bluntly, eliciting surprise from the echidna. "You should not be out here in the wild. You're pregnant, and this is not the safest thing to do."

"I appreciate your concern, Metal, but I'm fine." Tikal smiled in an assured manner. "I'm not due for over 8 months, and as long I'm still physically able to continue my work, I will do so."

"It's not the fact that you aren't able to do your job that concerns me." Metal stated. "It's the fact that you could get severely injured out here. There are many dangerous creatures out here, and you're in no position to defend yourself. If something happens, the baby could possibly die."

"Where is this coming from?" Tikal questioned strangely. "Does this have anything to do with your son? Emerl, was it?"

"I'm just saying." Metal said, turning away in a tough manner. "If anything happened, Blue would not be so easy to forgive. He got angry and transformed into Perfect Chaos just because someone stole his bagel." He scratched his head. "I didn't even know he had a mouth."

"Yeah, he's not exactly the sharpest tool." Tikal giggled. "But I can take care of myself just fine and if anything happens, I know I have you to assist me." Metal didn't respond, but suddenly stiffened when she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I know you're worried about Emerl, but I'm sure he's fine. After all, it takes more than a boarder war take him down."

"Of course!" Metal said proudly. "He's my son after all!"

"Looks like you're back to normal." Tikal laughed, earning a groan from the bio-mechanical warrior. "Say, we've been digging around the outside of the temple for a few days now. Why hasn't anyone tried to look inside the temple?"

""Because everyone's afraid that there might still be traps around." Metal answered shortly, quickly looking to the echidna. "Oh no. You have that look in your eye."

"Come on!" Tikal yelled.

Before the metallic warrior could possibly react, Tikal grappled his arm and quickly pulls her partner in the direction of the temple. A few of the workers were quite relieved that Metal was out of their working area, which really pissed him off. Finding the entrance to the Gaia Temple, as the researchers called it, was hard – they found it in the first hour. The only difficult part was getting through the sealed gateway that has apparently been closed off for two hundred years since the Dark Gaia incident. Metal had hoped that this would prevent her from entering, but there was a reason she and Blue were made for each other. It was on the second day that the echidna priestess found a fracture in the outer wall of the temple and kept it secret until this found better use for it. I suppose this counts. Tikal slender figure was able to slip through with relative ease, but Metal had a little trouble.

"You – really – need – to – lose – weight!" Tikal grunted, pulling the machine's arm with all her might.

"I don't see how that has anything to do with this!" Metal snapped. "Pull harder!

Tikal brought her foot up to the wall, pushing against it in an attempt to garner more force to pull him in. Miraculously, after several more moments of struggling, Metal was able to slide through the fracture. But Metal couldn't keep himself up from the sudden slide through and fell down on his face, brining Tikal down with him. Both of them groaned as Metallic doppelganger got to his knees, taking in the new surroundings.

"Well, you don't see that everyday." Metal commented as Tikal joined him.

Before them was a very large hallway illuminated with a green light. A long stone walkway reached from the sealed gateway to the very end of the hallway. Along the sides of the walkway, lined up perfectly from beginning to end, were three foot tall spikes. Each one had several markings on them, and the very tip had the very same green light that illuminated the hallway. On either side of the narrow pathway were giant stone pillars that were more than likely used to keep the temple standing.

"Unreal." Tikal said in awe. She walked over to one of the giant stone pillars, brushing her hand over the base of it, feeling the design firsthand. "I've never seen architecture like this before. Not even the temples of the echidnas compare."

"Two hundred years ago, Sonic told me that these temples were created by the Black Arms." Metal informed thoughtfully. "There specific structural designs are capable of lasting for thousands of years."

"What do you think they were used for." Tikal asked curiously to which Metal merely shrugged; he was no help. But as she grew more interested to the temple designs, she noticed a faint glimmer at the end of the hallway. "Metal, do you see anything unusual over there?

"Not really." Metal said in an uncaring manner; the echidna priestess deadpanned. "What?"

"Never mind, let's just check it out." Tikal sighed, grabbing his arm once again and pulling him towards the direction of the light.

The once-feared overlord was literally at Tikal's heel due to he amazing strength – rumors had that pregnant woman were ten times stronger than most. They eventually reached the light which turned out to be a circular platform, surrounded by four stone pillars, which in turn held up a stone ring high above the platform. Bright green flames were set all around the platform, showing the reason for the brighter light in this area. In the middle of the platform was a stone pedestal with strange markings around it. And behind it was a large rune picture of two dragons circling each other, a gem in the middle. Tikal gasped at the amazing sight that was shown to her, ignoring the uninterested cyborg. The two of them walked over to the platform; Tikal decided to check out the pedestal, Metal getting a close-up view of the stone mural.

"What an unusual portrait." Metal stated, rubbing his chin in thought. "I do wonder what the two dragons in this stone tablet are supposed to represent."

"And why would this be here?" Tikal asked curiously, referring to the pedestal.

The echidna priestess noticed that the stone had a hole that led deeper in it, and, not able to control her own curiosity, reached her hand out towards it. But the moment a finger even invaded the hole, the entire temple shook violently, throwing both the expected mother off her feet with the cybernetic warrior struggling to stand.

"What the hell is going on!" Metal shouted.

"I don't know!" Tikal replied through the violent shaking. "I just put my hand down inside, and the entire place started shaking!"

"Urg, I knew we should have just stayed out of this temple!" Metal yelled dangerously, dropping to his knees. Finally, the shaking stopped, allowing both of them to settle. "Well, that was pleasant."

"Now I know how my laundry feels." Tikal said dizzily, using the stone pedestal for support. But when pulling herself to full height, she noticed something odd about the structure. "Metal...look.

The cybernetic warrior regained his posture and turned, thoroughly surprised at what he was seeing. The small pedestal was glowing in an ominous manner, flickering on and off in a rhythm. Intrigued, Metal stepped closer to his partner. But at the moment he did, a small slot appeared from within the depths, relinquishing a treasure that has not been seen in many ages. Sitting on the slot was bright green gem that glowed mysteriously in the darkness.

"A Chaos Emerald!" Tikal exclaimed shockingly

"I take back what I said earlier." Metal said stunningly. "I'm glad we actually came into this temple. But why would an Emerald be here in this temple?"

"The Emeralds are always hidden in the most unexpected places." Tikal stated, reaching out and taking the green gem. "Still, we were very lucky to have found this. We need to get this back to Future City."

"Yeah, you're right." Metal admitted. "I'll contact the others and let them know..."

Just then, an explosion was heard from the other end of the hallway. They turned their heads as the sealed gateway was ripped from the wall blown into hundred of pieces across the floor. Dust formed from this impact, covering the entrance as footsteps echoed down the narrow pathway. Metal quickly pushed Tikal behind with his claw stretched to defend from the unwanted intruder.

"Heh heh, why try to open a door when you can just blow the lock off?" Reath chuckled, passing through the dust cloud lazily. "Works for me every time." He looked and saw Metal and Tikal at the end of the passage. "Oh, I didn't know I would have company. How ya doing, everyone."

"Who are you?" Tikal asked timidly.

"Well, if you must know, my name is Reath." he chuckled. "It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"Blade attached to arm...giant three-clawed foot...and web of veins over chest." Metal muttered over his examination. "You must be the monster that Sonic and the others fought back in Future City. The one that gave them so much trouble and ran with his tail between his legs when they were coming back.

"Hey, that's not very nice." Reath said mockingly. "But, yeah, I'm the guy. And by the looks of you, you two must be part of those lame Heroes." He stretched his head in a bored manner. "I would love to stay at chat about old times, but I'm on a tight schedule. Plus, I already had fun with the other losers."

"What do you mean 'other losers'?" Metal questioned suspiciously

"Well, you see, there was this group of people just outside this temple." Reath explained. "They were really annoying, telling me I couldn't go into this temple and trying to keep me out. So..." He lifted his arm blade, revealing the scarlet-red liquid dripping from the tip; Tikal buried herself into Metal's back. "I gave them a consolation prize."

"You monster!" Tikal shouted at him.

"Thanks." Reath laughed darkly. While both heroes seemed disturbed by the beast, Reath noticed the glimmer gem they were trying to hide. "Hey, the Chaos Emerald. Wow, thanks for helping me out. You saved me a lot of trouble looking for the stupid thing." He stretched out his clawed hand "Now please be so kind as to hand it over."

"Tikal." Metal whispered, catching her attention. "Listen. I'm going to distract him, and when that happens, I want you to get out of here with the Emerald."

"But what about you?" Tikal asked with concern.

"I can take care of this monster." Metal said confidently. "I'm pretty sure that he won't be any match for me. But you need to get out of here. Remember, you're pregnant, and can't risk any injury. Plus, you have to get the Emerald out of his reach. Don't worry 'bout me. I'm not going to die here, you can be certain of that."

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Reath chuckled. "Are you discussing the terms of your surrender?"

"You wish." Metal sneered.

Just then, Metal shot across the corridor at high speeds, stabbing his claw for Reath's head. The disfigured monster smirked in a superior manner, raising his arm blade just in time to block the attack. It was at that point that the cybernetic warrior understood that Reath was different from most of the opponent he had face in recent years. The feeling of darkness welling in the beating heart beneath his armor was terrible and familiar. Fortunately, he was able to throw off the distraction just in time to witness Reath lift his clawed hand and make an attempted swipe. Metal cut him off, however, and grappled the demon's wrist with his free claw. Both warriors were locked in a stalemate, which seemed to satisfy the mangled monstrosity.

"You think you got what it takes to shut me down, sparky?" Reath said superiorly.

"All that and more." Metal grunted.

During their struggle, Tikal found that this was the best opportunity to sneak past the duo and make her escape. Thankfully, she was able to use the dense darkness and towering structures to maneuver undetected. The echidna priestess had nearly managed to make a break for the broken gateway, but Reath was more cunning than they gave him credit for. Though he was temporarily distracted by Metal Sonic, the reflection of the Chaos Emerald's light off of the cyborg's polished armor hinted at her location.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Reath smirked devilishly; Tikal stopped from the shock. "The party's just getting started."

Reath wasn't known to fight fair and lifted his knee into Metal's chest, forcing the cybernetic warrior to double over. With the given opportunity, the disfigured beast flipped overhead, grabbing the cyber warrior by his shoulders, and landed back on his feet to use the momentum to his advantage. Reath lifted the metallic doppelganger over his head and threw him forward into the stone mural, causing the entire structure to collapse upon contact. One down, one to go. Setting his sights back on the echidna priestess, Reath was amazed to learn that she was nearly out of his range – the chick was fast for sure. The mixed monstrosity touched his hand to the stone floor and allowed his body to gain an earthy tone. Reath lifted his clawed hand forward and expelled his lengthy talons like stone bullets at Tikal's back. The echidna woman had nearly paid the ultimate price as the claw reached within inches of her spine, but was fortunately saved once again. Without the demon's notice, a surge of blue lightning glided across the wall and lashed across the air, incinerating the stone talons before they could reach Tikal. Reath sighed in a disappointed manner and turned on his heels back to Metal as he emerged from the rubble – his hands sparked from the recent technique.

"You just don't know when ta quit, do you?" Reath grumbled

"If you want the Emerald, you're going to have to go through me." Metal stated seriously.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Reath rolled his eyes, regrowing his missing talons. "Let's just get this over with."

* * *

Meanwhile Tikal ran out of what was once the gateway – the Chaos Emerald in hand. As she exited the Gaia Temple, she panted heavily, her head held down from so. But when she brought her head u, the sight she saw really made her wish she hadn't as she gasped in shock. The entire archaeological team. Some had the mercy of just being stabbed, but other had been decapitated, some even cut into pieces, and some even mutilated, blood flowing from the bodies, staining the ground. The sight nearly made Tikal throw up in shock and disgust, tears flowing freely down her face. She turned around to look back at the temple - she clutched the glowing gem tightly within her hands.

"Metal...please be alright." she whispered.

* * *

Sparks flew as the two battled it out within the temple. Reath swung his blade for Metal's neckline, but the robotic doppelganger backed away in time. Reath used the momentum of the swing to force the arm blade to stab for his heart, but Metal grabbed it just before it connected. He then lifted him up and threw him down towards the ground to crush his body. But he used his giant three-clawed foot to land on the ground, the strength and size of it keeping him standing, cracking the ground. Metal was surprised, and Reath took the opportunity to use his strength to throw the robot down the hallway. Metal skidded across the ground until he came to a halt.

"I must admit that was impressive on your part." Metal commented. "I can see why you're different from past monsters."

"Thanks for the compliment." Reath smirked. "But it's not gonna save you butt." He blinked and scratched his head curiously. "Wait...do robots have butts?"

"I have no idea..." Metal said awkwardly.

A period of stifled silence passed between them – not really something tabled over the table. But they quickly got over it and Reath dashed towards the robot, stabbing his arm blade once more at him. Metal jumped back to avoid the strike, the blade striking the ground as a result. Metal landed and used the momentum to shoot towards him and swipe his claws at him. Reacting quickly, Reath ducked the swipe and brought his blade up, going for an upward slice was he was shooting over him. Metal, though, was prepared. He activated the boosters on the feet, which propelled over Reath just in time to avoid the slice. He flipped so he could use the boosters to propel him back towards the monster wolf. Reath swiftly turned around and used his arm blade to block the claw that Metal aimed for his heart. Reath smirked at this, but he failed to notice the electricity building up in Metal's free hand. Suddenly, he shouts out, striking Reath at point-blank range. He screamed in pain as he was flung down the hallway, landing on his back a ways from Metal. His senses were momentarily dulled as he struggled to get to a knee. He took in his surroundings, and suddenly an idea came to him.

"Is that all you got?" Metal asked, electricity sparking around his hand. "Because if it is, then it's pretty obvious who's going win."

"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet." Reath chuckled darkly

Metal charged straight at him, electricity cackling in his hands. But just then, Reath shot up and threw a punch at him. Reacting, Metal jumped over him, but when the fist came in contact with the ground, it shattered it completely. The robot stared in shock as Reath grabbed one of the stone debris and threw it straight at Metal. He had no time to react as it struck him dead-on, sending him high into the air. Using his boosters, he stopped himself in mid-air, but Reath appeared above him. Metal vainly raised his arms in defense, but was sent to the ground when Reath's leg was brought down on him. He landed hard, imprinted on the ground. Reath shot towards the ground, fist raised to crush him. The robotic doppelganger saw it in time to pull himself out of the ground and jump out of the way as Reath completely destroyed that section with his fist.

"What the hell are you?" Metal growled. "Where are you getting all this power from? I can understand that you absorbed unique properties when touching different materials, but they only last a few minutes. You other strengths are...unnatural."

"You got one thing right." Reath laughed playfully. "By touching likes like stone or glass, my body can naturally adapt to the chosen substance and give me a different ability. Unfortunately, they're only temporary." His attention was suddenly serious, staring down at his hands. "But ya know...I have noticed that I've gotten stronger all of a sudden. It's almost...unnatural."

"When did you get this strength?" Metal questioned curiously.

"How the hell should I know?" Reath shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm just here to do my job. So get out of the way."

The monster wolf shot towards Metal, throwing a deadly punch at him. Metal sidestepped him, avoiding it, but was not prepared when his giant three-clawed foot shot up and grabbed his body and slammed his body to the ground. He struggled against the grip to no avail as Reath pointed his arm blade at his face.

"Hey, we all got to go sometime, right?" Reath chuckled, raising his arm blade for the kill.

Thinking fast, he grabbed his leg and shot electricity into him. Electricity flowed through his body, pain searing through it completely. He unknowingly lifted his giant foot in pain, allowing Metal to stand and deliver a punch to his face. The monster was sent flying across the hallway, and Metal shot towards as he did so, ready to end this. But then suddenly, Reath landed on his feet and threw a deadly punch right into Metal's face as he reached him. It nearly crushed his face in as it sent him flying across the room and into one of the giant pillars. He slid down it, a giant dent evident on his face.

"Heh, look like you're the one that's no match for me." Reath snickered. "Time to end this."

"Damn it." Metal muttered as he struggled to stand up. "I completely underestimated him. How am I going to take him out?" As he stood up, he noticed the pillar he crashed into, and suddenly an idea came to him. "Tikal's going to be pissed over this, but I don't have any other ideas."

Grabbing his right wrist with his left hand, he culminated all of his remaining Chaos Energy into a single point on his palm. The mixture of energy and the added element charge coated his cybernetic limb in a wave of light-blue electricity that stretched from his fingertips to his wrist. Metal narrowed his electronic eyes in a threatening manner, which only made Reath laughed silently. The cybernetic warrior threw out his arm, exclaiming the fabled technique that made him legendary.

**"Metal Surge!"**

The mixed monstrosity lifted his bladed arm out in front, ready for anything that the cyber fighter would attempt. However, he wasn't fully prepared as he had expected. Metal crushed his feet into the stone beneath him before skipped forward, vanishing in a blur of color. Reath was genuinely worried at this point, never figuring that the metallic doppelganger would possess such incredible speed. The clawed demon snapped his head left and right in search of Metal, only to find the warrior reappearing only a few feet in front of him. This was the prefect opportunity: Reath was defenseless and Metal was in the prefect motion to strike. The metallic warrior stabbed his electrified claw forward and...Grazed his shoulder. Instead of killing Reath, Metal's target was monolithic pillar standing directly behind him. The stone column instantly fragmented upon contact and formed a deep fracture that shot towards the roof.

"What the...?" Reath exclaimed curiously

Metal immediately shot towards another pillar at sonic speeds and destroyed with the Surge, and then went to another and destroyed it as well. Reath wondered what he was trying to do until he notice the ceiling above him began to shake and crumble, rocks falling to the ground.

"Aw shit!" Reath swore violently. "He's completely lost his gourd!"

He turned towards Metal, who was heading for another giant stone pillar. Not wanting him to go through with his plan, he shot towards him, and as Metal neared the pillar, Reath appeared in his path. He stabbed his blade right towards Metal in an effort to kill him, but the metallic doppelganger jumped over it, landing his two feet on Reath's back. He then activated the boosters on his feet, and pushed himself off Reath's back as hard as he could, severely burning Reath's back and sending him away. The momentum and force sent him on a crash course for the pillar. He brought the Metal Surge behind him and thrust it foward, destroying the pillar. That was the last straw as the tower began to collapse.

* * *

Tikal gasped as the entire temple collapsed on itself, the entire foundation crumbling down. Tikal began to fear the worst for Metal because of this occurrence. She was able to see a figure among all the dust, and that figure was walking toward her. Suspense gripped her as she prepared herself for whoever came out of the dust. The figure walked into view... and it was Metal Sonic. The echidna priestess breathed a sigh of relief as the cybernetic warrior stopped directly in front of his companion.

"Didn't I tell you to run away with Emerald?" Metal asked.

"Couldn't leave you out to dry." Tikal admitted shyly.. "But did you really have to bring down the whole temple down? You know the administrator isn't going to be happy when he hears how you ruined a four thousand year-old masterpiece."

"I was in a tight spot." Metal sighed. "Seemed like the only way to take that monster out. Sorry about that, but I can assure you, Reath is gone and he won't be giving us trouble anymore.

"Oh, you are completely off the radar with that one."

Both Tikal and Metal stiffened at the sound of the familiar voice. Metal turned around immediately, only for a blade to shoot out of the dust and pierce his right shoulder. Metal screamed in pain as he was lifted up into the air. The dust settled and from it came Reath, his arm blade piercing Metal. Several cuts were over his whole body, especially his forehead and chest, blood flowing from the wounds, and a severe burn on his back from Metal's boosters.

"That was pretty clever, trying to cave the temple down on me." Reath smirked. "It's too bad that it didn't work. Don't you just hate it when a plan fails?"

With his super strength still working, he threw Metal off his blade and into the echidna priestess. The sudden weight of the metallic doppelganger caught Tikal off-guard and caused both Heroes to collapse with a dull thud. The echidna priestess struggled under the faulting limbs of her partner, suddenly realizing that Metal had been forced to shut down. Tikal managed to push the metallic doppelganger off to the side, suddenly finding herself in even worse danger than she remembered. Reath stood menacingly with his bladed arm pointed between her eyes, a serious look on his expression. Tikal's heart began beating rapidly, eyes widened and lips parted as she realized what was going to happen next. Reath drew back his blade, the look still there on his face...and began laughing insanely.

"Oh man, you should've seen the look on your face!" Reath laughed, tears nearly forming in his eyes. "Priceless! Totally classic!"

"That's...not very funny." Tikal said feebly, her eyes never leaving the blade.

"I thought it was hilarious." Reath chuckled, taking away his sword from the girl. "I could kill ya both right now if I want ta. But...I'm feeling generous today, so it's your lucky day to live. I mean, what's the fun of playing a game if you don't have people playing it." He lifted Metal with his disfigured foot, and threw him into a nearby tree. "I don't want the players to drop out early when things are getting good. Basically saying, I'm sparing you two on a whim." He walked past Tikal and picked up the Chaos Emerald she had dropped. "I hope we can see each other again real soon.

He thrust his hand outwards, summoning a dark portal in front of him. Smirking with Chaos Emerald in hand, he walked through the dark portal, leaving a stunned Tikal and a disabled Metal. The Mazuri forest was silent with only Tikal's heavy breathing to break the silence. She had just witness Metal, one of the most powerful fighters in the universe, being taken down so easily by this strange newcomer. And what made the situation worse was that Reath was only playing with them. The disfigured beast was confident in his own strength and it was well deserved. Maybe...maybe the Heroes really didn't stand a chance against Nazo's forces. Perhaps the God of Darkness had learned from his previous mistakes and corrected them by being stronger, faster, and smarter. But if anything made the event more terrible, it was the fact that Tikal was nothing more than a burden to her friends. If only she could be as powerful as them. Looking back between her dead colleagues and defeated partner, she lifted her legs and sobbed into her knees.

"I'm just...helpless." Tikal cried.

But unbeknownst to the teary-eyed echidna, her actions were being monitored from a distance. The old platform that was used in the great battle for the temple still endured proudly from above, giving the shadowed character a bird's-eye view of the performance. Once again, his identity was concealed by the leather-brown coat and dirty-brown fedora – his S.W.O.R.D. badge glistened in the sunlight. The unknown member removed the telescopic lenses from his eyes, smirking proudly at his most recent accomplishment.

"So they found the Chaos Emerald that I planted." The character said. "But I didn't expect to see Nazo's newest flunky to get involved. The boss is going to get one hell of a report."

* * *

"Hey, I'm back!" Reath shouted gleefully as he walked through the doorway.

"Look who survived." Mephiles said sarcastically. He looked over Reath, easily noticing the wounds he carried. "But I can't say it was in one piece. Did you run into any interference?"

"Oh, big time." Reath replied nonchalantly. "I got into a major fight with some crazy machine that like shoot sparks everywhere. Kinda had a mean streak. If I had to guess, he's with those Heroes or something."

"Metal Sonic." Nazo stated, eying Reath very carefully.

"Were you victorious?" Mephiles questioned hopefully

"Are you kidding?" Reath said jokingly. "I took down the scrap of metal with ease!" Mephiles' eyes narrowed with disdain, which was the opposite expression of his master. "He pulled out a few tricks, but he was no match for this bad dude. Oh, and boss..." He pulled out the green Chaos Emerald. "Here's your kid. If you lose him again, I'd suggest some flyers.

The disfigured monster tossed the mystic over to Nazo, watching as the glowing marvel stopped in midair under his gaze. The God of Darkness grinned with pride as one of his greatest treasure loftily twirled in place, displaying its bountiful brilliance and power. Mephiles and his master both knew what feat they could accomplish with only one of the seven legendary gems, but Reath was too busy cleaning his ears to notice. Mephiles clutched his claw in anger – why did Nazo favor him so?

"Did you kill Metal Sonic?" Nazo asked dully.

"Nah, not really." Reath said nonchalantly.

"Is there any reason why you let him go?" Mephiles questioned seriously.

"Just didn't feel like it." Reath shrugged; Mephiles glared. "And that's a wonder in itself. Besides, beating the crap out of him wasn't as fun as knocking around another blue rat we all know. I really miss the little guy.

"You had the chance to take out a dangerous enemy to our goal." Mephiles proclaimed dangerously. "If we lose this war because of your arrogance, I swear..."

"That's enough Mephiles." Nazo said coolly, causing both demons to immediately turn. "While I agree that he should have eliminated Metal Sonic from the playing field..." His eyes settled on Reath, who seemed defensive. "Defeating him in combat is an accomplishment in its own. And not only has he managed to retrieve the Chaos Emerald, he has always shown the Sonic Heroes what we are truly capable of." He leaned into his hand, smiling proudly. "Good work, Reath."

"Thanks, boss." Reath smirked, much to Mephiles' distaste

"We are slowly growing in strength." Nazo stated as he looked over the chess board. "Soon, the time will come when we make our presence truly felt. And no one, not even the Sonic Heroes, will be able to stand in our way."

**Darkness tallies ups a victory as the mystery around Reath thickens. Will Nazo gain the other six Chaos Emeralds? What will the Heroes do next in response? And just what is the extent of Reath's power? Find out in the next Sonic Heroes.**


	5. Reluctant Partners

**Sonic Heroes: Millennium**

Reluctant Partners

The scene once again starts at underground of the barren wasteland far from Future City, which was the base of the newest Dark Rulers. As always, the creations of Mephiles scurried around the catacombs, attending to their duties. And deep within those catacombs, as always, Nazo sat upon his makeshift stone throne with his eyes closed and silence as he patiently awaited for his two most loyal followers. And he didn't have to wait anymore as heard footsteps coming his ways. Slowly opening his eyes, he caught sight of both Mephiles the Dark and Reath walking through the doorway.

"Lord Nazo, you called us?" Mephiles asked as they approached him.

"Yes, I did, Mephiles." Nazo stated.

"Then mind telling us why you did?" Reath muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I was having a great nap until your goons woke me up. It better be important enough to have done that because..."

"Your sleep does not matter to me." Nazo stated coldly; Reath winced in response. "What I have in store is much more important than such petty things. I need both of you to listen carefully. You see, in time we are going to strike our enemies when they least expect it, but before we do that, we must cripple them.

"Cripple them, huh?" Reath muttered, rubbing his chin. "How are we going to do that, huh? I mean, I have no idea what we could possibly due to hurt the Heroes outside of physical punishment.

"This mission will not be targeted at the Heroes." Nazo informed, surprising Reath. "Rather, it will be directed at G.U.N. specifically."

"G.U.N.?" Reath asked skeptically. "Why waste time on them? Aside from the Shadow and Kumori you told me about, they don't seem all that tough to me."

"Your opinions on GUN have no say in this decision." Mephiles stated, glaring at Reath. "If Nazo wishes to target them, then we shall. Your views have no influence in this."

"Whatever." Reath shrugged nonchalantly.

"GUN is a valuable ally to the Heroes." Nazo explained. "If we eliminate their strength, we damage the Heroes as well to some extent."

"What is it that you have for us, Lord Nazo?" Mephiles asked respectfully.

"I have located a GUN outpost deep in the heart of Holaska." Nazo informed them. "I need that GUN outpost destroyed. It will destroy their supplies and create enough damage to weaken the Heroes' resolve."

"Why the hell in Holaska?" Reath questioned, scratching his head. "I mean, who the hell would put an outpost in the middle of nowhere? Especially where it's the coldest place on this damn planet!"

"I was getting to that." Nazo said dangerously; Reath instantly backed away. "I have also learned that the reason for the location of the outpost is that they are building a new secret weapon there. I don't know what it is, but I rather have it destroyed before it is in functional."

"Alright boss, I'll get to work." Reath said out of nowhere, turning towards the doorway. "And maybe when I'm finished, I'll bring a nice little souvenir for you to hang on the wall."

"Hold on." Mephiles spoke, stepping in preventing him from leaving. "Who said you were the one taking up this mission?"

"I only assumed because come on, I just came off a huge victory over that Metal dude!" Reath smirked at him. "I mean, I'm red hot right now. It would only be natural that the big boss would send me off to get the job done right!"

"You miniscule victory has gone to your head." Mephiles scoffed. "You've only been around a couple of weeks; I've been doing this for two hundred years. One success does not make you superior. If anyone should do this, it should be me."

"Oh please, you're so old school." the monster scoffed; Mephiles shot a death glare at him. "What this mission needs is someone fresh and new, and that someone is me."

"You arrogant punk." Mephiles growled. "You are too cocky for your own good. I'm the one who will be taking up this assignment."

"Enough, you are both going to Holaska!" Nazo announced, bringing the feud to an instant conclusion.

"Say what?" The dual evils exclaimed

"You heard me." Nazo stated with an icy tone. "I have had enough of your conflicts. Ever since you were created, Reath, you two have become a lingering annoyance over the past few weeks. If we are to succeed in our goals, I cannot have dissension amongst the two of you. You are both being sent on this mission to learn to work together cooperatively. And do not come back until you have completed these goals!"

"But, Lord Nazo..." The duo began.

"That is an order!" Nazo glared; both of his servants stiffened. "Unless you wish for me to resolve this personally."

"Alright, boss." Reath muttered, turning towards the doorway.

"As you wish, Lord Nazo." Mephiles nodded, following Reath.

"I predict two outcomes from this." Nazo sighed. "Either they learn to work together and completely destroy that outpost, or they'll screw it up with their constant rivalry." He narrowed his eyes as he finished those words. "It better not be the latter, or there will be severe consequences."

* * *

The scenery changes to the cold continent known as Holoska. It was a large, snowy terrain, with several large lakes all over the continent. Many ice glaciers and canyons were seated all across this part of the world. Almost no life was seen within this country, save for a few Eskimo-like villages scattered across this snowy plain. The sky was completely clear, the sun shining brightly down on Holoska. And deep in the heart of it, an outpost was stationed right within this extremely cold environment.

The outpost was neither large, nor small, but rather right in between in size. The outpost was a colored white, in order to blend in with the surroundings, a giant steel wall surrounding what was in its perimeter, towers built at its four corners, large doors created in the wall for the entrance. Within the walls of the outpost, there were several buildings situated along the wall. Some of them were warehouses, which one would assume would be used for storage of supplies. The other buildings were shown as one story houses, which the occupants of this outpost used to sleep in when the time and comes. Many GUN soldiers, approximately a hundred and fifty were there, many of them walking through the outpost, each one suited for the cold weather, attending to their duties. Others were stationed at the towers and on the wall, armed heavily in case of...unexpected visitors. And not too far off from this outpost, kneeling on a cliff, hiding from them, were none other than Mephiles and Reath.

"Is that the place the boss was talking about?" Reath asked, looking over the cliffside.

"Yes, that is the outpost that we were assigned to destroy." Mephiles answered, examining it intently. He gave a moment to glare at the disfigured monster. "And you will address 'the boss' as Lord Nazo!"

"Whatever." Reath shrugged. "Hey, what do you think this secret weapon that _Lord Nazo_ mentioned GUN is building in there is? I mean, I really hope that it will provide me with some entertainment before I kill it."

"I honestly don't know." Mephiles replied, rubbing his chin in thought. "But if Lord Nazo wanted us to destroy before it's even used, then I really think it could be a threat if unleashed. I think that we should be careful with the situation and create a plan before going in."

"Yeah, you do that." Reath said sarcastically. He stood up, his blade gleaming dangerously. "I'll be down there having fun!"

"What the hell are you thinking?" Mephiles exclaimed. The monster disregarded him and was about to jump off the cliff, but the time demon grabbed his arm and pulled him down to the ground. "If you just jump right in, I swear you will be buried in a matter of hours beneath this snow."

"Oh please, what makes you think those wimpy GUN dudes can match up to me?" Reath smirked arrogantly. "I mean, I'm probably stronger than all of them in there combined."

"Maybe, but a full frontal assault is foolish." Mephiles informed him. He pointed towards the wall and towers. "You see the towers, the snipers placed in them? The .50 caliber rifles they have on them? Do you see the walls? And do you see the heavy artillery and guns each one has on them? The moment you jump into their and charge straight them, I guarantee that you will be gunned down instantly."

Reath stood stunned with his agape as Mephiles' words begin to dawn on him. He looked frantically at the outpost, hoping to find some flaw with his deduction. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't. His expression turned into a defeated one as he looked back at Mephiles.

"Come on, this shouldn't be right at all." Reath groaned. He then was granted an idea. "Of course! Guns won't be a problem if I turn my body into snow. With it, I could..."

"Even with your abilities and that idea, a straight attack would alert the entire base and allow the enemy to have time to prepare for your arrival." Mephiles informed. "I can predict that the moment you break into the outpost, there will be several hundred guns pointed right at you. And the powers you gain are only temporary, so it will probably fade by that time, making you an easy target." "

"I fucking hate it when you're right." Reath growled. Then suddenly, a thought occurred. "Hey, if they could shoot me that easily if I just go straight at them, then why did you..."

"Don't misunderstand me." Mephiles told him, seeing where he was going. "I did not keep you out of death's way because I like you in any manner. In fact, I would love to see you die if that were possible."

"Glad to know you're so concerned for me." Reath replied sarcastically, a smirk planted on his face.

"Unfortunately, I cannot allow that happen." Mephiles stated disdainfully. "As much I dislike you, you are important to our plans in the future, and if you were to die just at the beginning of this war, then Lord Nazo would be...most displeased."

"Oh, I see, you just don't want the boss to torture you for eternity, gotcha." Reath chuckled, earning a death glare from Mephiles. "Well, if we can't just take them head-on, which totally sucks if you ask me, then what do we do?"

"We use stealth to gain entrance into the outpost." Mephiles informed him. "Once inside, we can take them by surprise and destroy the supplies and their secret weapon with ease. We will wait for the cover of night, when everyone is tired and at they're most vulnerable. It will give us the cover to get in there and take them all by surprise."

"Oooh, stealth." Reath remarked unpleasantly. "Not one of my better qualities. I'm more of the "head-on" kind of guy."

"Well you're going to have to learn it if you want to get in there." Mephiles said coldly. "But it'll be worthwhile. Once we infiltrate the outpost, you can do whatever you want."

"You mean...I can go wild." Reath grinned, his arm-blade shaking eagerly.

"I don't care, just stay out of my way once we're in." Mephiles said calmly.

"Oh don't worry, I will." Reath chuckled evilly.

* * *

Several hours passed, and soon nightfall came. With many of the occupants in the base had gone to their respective buildings to sleep and recover themselves, with several others taking up the night shift. A lone warehouse, slightly larger than the others, seemed to still have people awake in it, as lights could be seen on through some of their windows. We see on the wall two soldiers on guard duty, one outfitting his gun, and the other shivering from the cold.

"God dammit, it's so freakin' cold!" Soldier #1 complained. "Why do we need to be out here anyway? No one knows that we're even here, and I doubt that any of the locals will cause us any trouble."

"Maybe, but you know how they are, being cautious and all." Soldier #2 replied, loading his rifle. "They want to make sure that if anyone does know, that will be ready to alert at all times. We need to protect what's inside the outpost."

"And that's another thing." Soldier #1 stated. "Why is this place even here? It really doesn't make any sense at all. Why place this outpost in the middle of this frozen hell?"

"Well, rumors have it that there is a secret weapon being built here." Soldier #2 answered. "The rumors state that when it's finished, it could give us an edge against our enemies, such as Nega."

"Really?" Soldier #1 asked, receiving a nod from his partner. "Wow, I never knew something like that. They sure like to keep that stuff under wraps." He turned his head the other way to gather his thoughts. "Well, if that's the case, then I guess I just have to tough it out then, right?" A few seconds passed with no answer. "Right?"

He turned his head towards him, only to gasp in shock. The second soldier was no longer amongst the living as a blade had pierced his face from behind, going through the middle of his eyes, a shocked and feared expression on the dead soldier's face. And the blade belonged to none other than the disfigured monster, Reath.

"Heh, either I got some skill in stealth after all, or you just have a short attention span." Reath grinned at him.

Before the remaining soldier could even react, he felt something hit the back of his neck, and the result was him falling to the ground out cold. Mephiles stood above the unconscious soldier, an indifferent expression about him.

"Why didn't you kill the guy when you had the chance? Reath asked; Mephiles didn't respond. "Fine, don't answer me. So..." The monster wolf looked down at the insides of the outpost. "Can I have some fun?"

"As promised, you can do what you wish." Mephiles replied. "Just make sure to stay out of my way, and to also destroy the supplies here."

"Whatever, now it's time to have some fun!" Reath exclaimed with an insane grin.

Reath lifted the dead soldier's body with his blade and then threw it down off the wall and down to the ground below. When it landed on the snow, it caught the immediate attention of some of the soldiers still up. Ten of them gathered around it immediately, shocked at what they saw. They began conversing among themselves, when they heard something land behind them. They turned around, just to find Reath with a sadistic grin on his face.

"Heeeeere's Johnny!" Reath cackled insanely, cutting down his first opponent.

This caught them all off-guard as Reath stabbed another through the chest. They regained themselves and tried to fire at him, but then Mephiles landed and then kicked one right into two others knocking them down as well. One was able to fire at him, but Mephiles jumped out of the way in time. The soldier was promptly silenced when Reath stabbed him through the throat. Just then, a loud alarm was heard all through the outpost. The two turned their heads and saw that a soldier had slipped past them and pressed the alarm button.

"Looks like we're going to have a lot more company." Mephiles stated, readying himself for battle.

"Heh, that totally works." Reath grinned. "I was hoping for that in the first place."

Soldiers began to come out of the buildings one by one and both Reath and Mephiles jumped into battle. Reath dashed at several soldiers and in one swift movement sliced them all. A soldier fired his gun at the disfigured monster, but Reath brought up his blade to block the bullets. Another soldier tried to sneak up behind and stab him from behind, but Reath saw it and turned around, stabbing him in the gut. A large group dashed towards him, and thinking quickly, he slammed his fist down on the ground. The result was a shockwave that when it reached them, sent the soldiers flying in all directions.

"God damn, this feels good!" Reath exclaimed joyously, the veins on his chest pulsing ever slightly. "I don't know what's going on, but I like it."

Just then, a group of soldiers appeared to his right, and began firing on him. Reath rolled out of the way, and towards the steel wall that surrounded them. Thinking fast, he touched his hand upon the wall and absorbed its qualities; his body gained a shiny, metal-like tone similar to the wall. He then turned back to the soldiers, and charged right at them. They fired again, but this time the bullets bounced off his steel-like skin. Reath swung his blade in a horizontal motion, decapitating all their heads, the web of veins on him pulsing with every kill.

Meanwhile, Mephiles was holding his own without much effort. A soldier came up to him, ready to fire, but the demon struck him with an uppercut, knocking him out. Two soldiers came out of nowhere and fired at him, but Mephiles jumped over them and then landed right between them. Grabbing their heads, he slammed them together hard, which sent them into unconsciousness. But then a soldier threw a grenade at the feet of Mephiles. The time demon didn't notice it until it blew up in his face.

"One of the targets has been neutralized!" the soldier announced. "Now let's focus on..."

He stopped when Mephiles emerged from the smoke and promptly punched him in the face, sending him crashing into the wall. Mephiles then formed a Chaos Lance in his hands, and then fired it at one of the warehouses, destroying it. He was about to form another when a soldier and tried to strike him with his gun. Mephiles easily dodged it and kneed him in the gut, knocking him out in the process. He fired yet another Chaos Lance at another warehouse, destroying it as well. Yet another soldier unloaded his bullets on Mephiles, but he easily rolled out of the way and charged at him. The soldier was about to fire again when the demon grabbed his arm, and with his might threw him into a group of soldiers coming his way, throwing them down. He heard a large thud and felt a small shockwave and turned his head to see that Reath had created a small crater from his fist striking the ground, his veins bulging as he did so.

_"He's getting stronger." _Mephiles thought as he struck away an incoming soldier. _"He's never been this powerful before, and he wasn't that strong when this battle started. How did he obtain the strength so suddenly?"_

Mephiles' thoughts were interrupted when a soldier tried to fire at him, but the demon quickly ducked them. Reath suddenly came and promptly sliced the man clean in half. Reath turned and promptly smirked at Mephiles himself.

"I've noticed you haven't killed a single one during this whole brawl." Reath stated smugly. "Did the _great _Mephiles the Dark lose his nerve in the last two hundred years?"

"I have my reasons." Mephiles stated simply. "While you have give into your impulses, I've stayed true to our mission, making sure all their supplies are in up smoke."

"What can I say?" Reath shrugged. "I just love the thrill of battle, the adrenaline that courses through me with each kill." He then noticed more soldiers coming their way. "When will they learn to give up? Oh well, more kills for me." Reath then jumped right towards, ready to kill even more, but what neither notice were the cameras watching their every move.

* * *

The scene shifts within the main warehouse of the outpost, the battle still continuing outside. The lights were on all over the building, save for a dim part in the very back. While there were a few boxes of supplies lying around, most of the place had tools and pieces lying about. The very back had an enclosed area designated by several long, tall white curtains held up by steel poles in the form of a square. Something could be seen through the white curtains, but it could not be told what it was. On the right wall of the warehouse were several monitors, and each one viewed a different angle on the battle outside. Gathered around them were a group of GUN scientists, each one studying the battle intently, along with the commander of the outpost, who was agitated at how the battle was going.

"How can this be happening?" the commander shouted furiously. "How could these two have known where we were? And now, thanks to this damn surprise attack, we're losing both men and supplies! I am not going to let this stand."

"Calm down." the lead scientist spoke coolly. "There is no need to be worried. These intruders will be dealt with."

"But they're taking down all my soldiers!" he argued.

"Sir, the monster is unique." a subordinate told the lead scientist, referring to Reath. "I noticed that when he touched the steel wall, his body gained a tone that was similar to the wall's. None of the bullets could harm him after that."

"Yes, I have noticed that as well." the lead scientist explained. "It is very interesting indeed. From what I can tell, he probably absorbed the qualities of the steel, allowing his body to transform to that exact property. With steel, his entire body becomes metallic armor as you can see. Theoretically, He can absorb any substance and reconfigure the molecules in his body to match the material. Very basic, yet very deadly. Intriguing."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but we don't have time to discuss things like this!" the commander exclaimed urgently. "They're destroying the warehouses, exterminating valuable supplies to us and GUN! It's only a matter of time before they destroy this one, along with all of us!"

"...It seems we have only one option then." the lead scientist stated. "We must use the Hunter droid."

"Are you sure?" the commander asked in shock. "It's ready. It's a prototype, and these two are very powerful from what we saw."

"We have no choice, commander." The lead scientist stated, walking over to the enclosed area of curtains. "Don't worry. It may be a prototype, but me and my colleagues are fully confident that it will be able to deal with our intruders. Plus, it would be a great field test for it. Trust us."

"Alright, but only because we have no other choice." The commander sighed in defeat. "Prepare the Hunter droid! Let's hope that it can destroy them before it's too late."

* * *

Reath struck another soldier across the chest the blade while Mephiles threw one soldier against the wall. They heard the sounds of doors opening, and both of them, along with the soldiers, turned their heads to the source of the sound, only to have their eyes widened at what was coming out of the main warehouse.

It was a silver machine that stood over seven feet tall, with a bulking massive-like structure. It's armor was made of sleek, strong silver metal. It's head was a massive shaped, grey-colored helm, a dark blue visor to act as its eyes, and several mechanical, hair-like appendages sticking out of its head. It had black-colored shoulder pads, spikes on each one. It had a gauntlet on each arm, two long jagged blades sticking out of its right one over its hand. On it's back was some sort of backpack-like container, and it had a layered chest plate for added protection and several guards on it hips. The final touch was the badge on its right shoulder pad, the GUN logo inscribed on it.

"Oh shit..." Reath muttered.

"I hope you like it." The lead scientist spoke, walking out of the warehouse along with his colleagues. "It is perhaps the finest creation GUN has ever created. It will be more than a match for you two, despite how capable you are."

"I'm taking this is the secret weapon that you were creating?" Mephiles questioned.

"Of course it is!" The lead scientist answered proudly. "We have created with the finest technology in this world today! Now I'm sure you were confident you would leave victorious, but I am afraid that is not meant to be. But, if you would leave peacefully, I promise that we will not have our weapon kill you."

"And just when things were getting good?" Reath snickered sarcastically. "Sorry, but you see I'm not one to quit so easily."

"If that is the fate you've decided." the lead scientist sighed. The remaining soldiers tried to coming "Soldiers, stay back. There will no longer be need of your assistance. Hunter Droid, attack!"

The Hunter's visor glowed brightly before it complied with the command and charged straight towards Mephiles and Reath. The disfigured monster, arrogant of his own abilities, charged right at the machine. The Hunter Droid swung his jagged claws down at Reath, but he brought up his arm blade to block it. But he was taken back by the inhuman strength the machine possessed, his new super strength being the only thing keeping the droid at bay. Suddenly, the droid brought it foot up, striking the monster's gut. Reath coughed up blood from the intense strike, and the Hunter punched him right in the face with its left fist. Reath was sent flying across the field until he landed on his feet.

"Damn it!" Reath growled, rubbing his face. "That damn machine is gonna..." He trailed off when he saw a compartment open on its left shoulder and out of it came a shoulder mounted energy gun. "Oh, son of a bitch!"

The Hunter Droid fired off a bright blue plasma bolt from the gun right at him. Reath rolled out of the way as the bolt struck the ground. The snow instantly melted around the blast range and formed a crater. Reath gaping right at the spot. The droid was about to take advantage of his shock with another plasma shot, but he visors detected an incoming projectile to his left. He backed away as a Chaos Lance passed by him and struck the wall. The droid turned its head to see Mephiles charging right at him. It fired repeatedly at the time demon, but he was able to dodge each one before he jumped into the air and brought his claw down on it. But the droid brought its arm up to block the attack easily.

"You are a fine creation, I admit." Mephiles stated, jumping away from the droid, forming a large red arrow between his hands. "But you will not stand in the way of my mission! **Chaos Lance!**"

He fired the energy arrow at the droid, but it just swiped its jagged claws right through it, destroying it. Mephiles shot forward and stabbed his claws for its visor, but the Hunter simply grabbed it with ease before it reached, and with a spin, threw him right towards Reath. The disfigured monster had just recovered from his shock at what he saw moments ago, only to have Mephiles crash right into him, sending both down to the ground.

"What the hell?" Reath exclaimed as he stood up. "I thought you were suppose to be on my side!"

"The machine threw me at you, you idiot!" Mephiles replied angrily as he stood up. "And if you helped me instead of staring like an idiot, it wouldn't have happened!"

As the two bickered, the Hunter took the opportunity that was presented to it. Compartments opened on both sides of the backpack-like container it wore, and out of them came large retractable shuriken discs. With targeting displayed on it visor, it grabbed the smart discs and threw them straight at the two, poised to slice their heads completely off. The two were too busy arguing to see the shuriken heading right for them. As they were about to decapitate the two of them, the demon warriors caught sight of them from the corner of their eyes. Reacting on instinct alone, Reath bent his body backwards as the shuriken passed over him, while Mephiles swerved around them, the deadly discs barely missing them by less than an inch.

"Holy crap." Reath breathed, sighing in relief. "That was too close for comfort. We almost got our heads cho-"

His sentence was interrupted when the Hunter Droid came up to them clotheslined the both of them, turning them inside out as they fell on their stomachs in pain, the machine gracefully capturing his shuriken as they came back to him and putting them away. Then while the two were still on the ground, he pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet.

"Unreal." Mephiles muttered as he struggled to get up. "This machine surpasses anything else GUN has created. How could they make something as powerful as this 'Hunter'?"

"Ooohhh..." Reath moaned in pain as the forced allies pushed to their knees. "That fucking hurt. I swear I'm going to turn that machine into scrap metal as soon as I..." He trailed off when he turned around, only to see nothing. "Where the hell did it go?"

His question was answered when two claw marks appeared across his stomach. He screamed in pain as Mephiles stared in shock as unseen force struck the monster in the gut, adding to the pain and making Reath cough up blood. He was the sent across the ground with yet another strike, landing on the ground in pain. Mephiles swung his claws at the spot, only to find thin air. He then felt something grab his throat and lift him several feet into the air. It was then he could see a semi-transparent image of the Hunter Droid, as well as his mounted energy gun charging right in his face. Mephiles' eyes widened as the Hunter fired it at point-blank range, blasting him with a plasma bolt and sending him flying, ending up next to Reath.

"It's toying with us..." Reath muttered as he stood up; blood flowed profusely from the claw marks on his stomach, as well as several large bruises on his face and stomach. "The damn machine is fucking toying with us. I swear on the Highest One I will rip it apart." He then looked at Mephiles. "Damn, you look worse than me."

The plasma bolt at point-blank range had done considerable damage to Mephiles. His body was falling apart as several pieces were coming off parts of it, and the blast had also destroyed his right arm and several of his quills. Mephiles struggled as he stood to his feet.

"Trust me, I've been through worse." Mephiles grunted, gaining a vertical basis. "That shot had really wounded me, but remember, I can't die, since I'm immortal. Still...a blast from close range has taken a lot out of me, and I can't regenerate my arm."

"Now you see how futile it is." the lead scientist stated as the Hunter Droid uncloaked itself. "You had a chance to walk away, yet you let your pride get the best of you, and soon you two will meet your demise because of it. The bright side of this is that we had a great field test for our prototype. Soon, we will perfect it, and we will mass produce it. You villains shall be wiped off the face of the Earth."

"Reath..." Mephiles whispered. "I hate to say this, but I think we're going to have to actually work together."

"Gee, what made you think that?" Reath asked sarcastically.

"I'm serious here." Mephiles stated. "We couldn't take it individually, but together, even wounded like this, I think we can do something to destroy it once and for all. I don't like you at all, but we need to do this if we are to survive and complete our mission."

"Alright...fine." Reath nodded reluctantly.

"Hmph, nothing you will do can change your fate." the lead scientist scoffed. "Hunter Droid, finish them!"

The Hunter Droid charged right at them, as Mephiles nod to Reath, who reacted in turn. They both charged at the silver machine as Mephiles once swiped his remaining claw at it. The droid raised it arm to block it with ease, but then Reath jumped overhead and swung his arm blade down on it. The Hunter brought its wrist blades up to block the incoming strike, the sound of metal clattering on contact. Reath shot his giant-three clawed foot at its chest, striking it dead-on. The machine staggered backwards, and Mephiles took the opportunity to fire a Chaos Lance with his remaining arm, which struck it in the chest again. Mephiles fired several more Chaos Lances in consecutive order, each one making contact.

"Hmph, you got lucky, so what?" The scientist stated. "You will not win this round, I guarantee that."

The Hunter Droid emerged from the smoke with several wounds on its chest plate, firing off shots from its energy gun on it shoulder. The two moved around the area, dodging the plasma bolts that the Hunter was firing everywhere. Several soldiers ran in fear when the blasts struck near them. Reath shot towards it when he had the chance and threw a devastating punch at it. The Hunter retaliated with a fist of his own from his left hand, and the punches collided, sending out a small shockwave. The two stared each other down until Reath smirked for no apparent reason, when Mephiles appeared from behind and stabbed his claw into the left part of its visor.

"Well what do you know?" Reath chuckled. "Teamwork does work after all."

But the Hunter Droid was far from finished as it stabbed its wrist blades through Mephiles' left shoulder suddenly. Mephiles' screamed in pain as Reath was pushed away with the Hunter's free hand. Mephiles was held up to the shoulder-mounted gun once again, and it charged up, ready to finish him off. But before it could fire, Reath jumped over the time demon and onto the gun, pushing its barrel into the air as it fired. The Hunter threw Mephiles of its claws, and began swinging and moving its body harshly in an attempt to get him off its shoulder gun, but to no avail. He grabbed Reath with both its arm, and proceeded to throw him off, but the monster wolf held onto the energy gun, breaking it off its shoulder. Reath rolled across the snow, before coming to stop on his stomach.

The Hunter walked over to the downed monster to finish the job, but Mephiles jumped at it from behind in an attempt to strike down the machine, but it swiftly turned around and caught Mephiles in mid-air by the throat. The time demon struggled against the grip of the machine as it brought its wrist blades up for the finish.

"You put up an impressive last stand, but like I said, it was all futile!" The lead scientist shouted victoriously. "We have created the perfect machine! With it, you Dark Rulers shall be finished! If you could barely stand against one Hunter, then Nazo won't be able to stop an army! This is the beginning of a new era! We shall-"

The monologue was promptly stopped when the head and upper chest of the Hunter was blasted off out of nowhere. Metal and wires flew across the ground as the prototype was torn to pieces. Its hand dropped Mephiles to the ground as the body fell to the ground with a thud. Silence filled the outpost as everyone, soldiers, the scientists, even Mephiles looked in shock. They turned their heads to see Reath holding the gun he took from the Hunter Droid, a devilish smirk on his face.

"Don't you just hate when toys break?" Reath laughed jokingly.

The lead scientist stammered in shock, unable to take in what he had just saw. Reath and Mephiles stared at each other, tension created from their gaze until it was broken when they noticed the remaining soldiers hesitantly raising their guns and stepping forward.

"Heh, look at that." Reath grinned. "The little soldiers are going to be brave. Do they really think that just because we're hurt they now have a chance to defeat us?" Mephiles remained silent. "Well, how about we bring them back down to Earth?" He brought his arm-blade up, which glowed dangerously in the moonlight.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the outpost was completely demolished inside and out. The wall was completely dented, bodies of soldiers littered the ground, both unconscious and dead, and all the buildings and warehouses were completely torn apart. The supplies had been completely eradicated, everything in the warehouses no longer usable. Reath and Mephiles walked away from the ruined outpost, an indifferent expression on Mephiles' face while a smirk was on Reath's.

"Man, the look on that science dude's face before I killed him was priceless!" Reath laughed. He held up the decapitated head of the scientist so he could see the horrified expression. "I'm so happy to have this trophy to remember it." He then turned to Mephiles. "Hey, Mephy, why didn't you kill a single dude back there? Where's your sense of excitement?"

"Don't call me, Mephy." he replied irritably.

"Alright, keep your secrets." Reath shrugged. "I guess all that matters is we got the job done."

"Reath, you did well today." Mephiles commented; Reath looked at him in shock. "I may still dislike you in every manner, but I respect you for your skills in fighting, even if your personality is...not your best quality."

"Wow, so you are capable of giving compliments?" Reath joked; Mephiles shot a glare. "But seriously, you didn't do too bad yourself. I thought you were some old artifact that needed to be thrown away, but I guess you still got some moves left in you."

"Hmmm, we should report to Lord Nazo." the time demon stated. "We need to tell him of our success. I can only assume that with the prototype's destruction along with the schematics we found, that GUN won't make anymore of those Hunter Droids."

"Doesn't matter if they do or not, I'll take them out like I just did today." Reath smirked. "If I could take one out, then I can take out any other they throw at me."

"Arrogant as always." Mephiles muttered.

The temporal demon lazily held out his hand, creating a dark portal in front of them. Without another word exchanged between them, the duo faded into the shadows, leaving Holoska and the broken outpost.

* * *

The scene shifts to Eggman Nega's base, where machines had been built thanks to the supplies given by Obadiah Stane of Stark Industries. And our full attention is focused on where Eggman Nega was hard at work. He was standing diligently over his work bench, grinning widely as sparks reflected off his glasses. He grabbed some metal parts, took a wrench and began applying them to it as well. Nega chuckled very evilly as he continued his work on his latest discovery.

"Almost done." Nega grinned as he continued his work. "If they thought Mecha Shadow was dangerous all those years ago, well they haven't seen anything yet! With what I've added to him, they'll fall to his knees, and soon the world will be at my mercy!"

Against the overwhelming black covering the workshop, a pair of electric-blue eyes shined menacingly in the darkness – a sharp hissed cut through the atmosphere.

**While the Dark Rulers grow in strength, the return of one of the deadliest villains ever is looming. Will Reath and Mephiles be able to get along in the future? What are these new modifications Nega speaks of? And will the Heroes be a match for Mecha when the time comes? Find out in the next Sonic Heroes.**


	6. Prison Brawl

**Sonic Heroes: Millennium**

Prison Brawl

The scene begins at the place known as Eggman Nega's base. As usua, it was in somewhat poor condition, cracks in the wall, dim light all over the place, lots of dust around, and even a few places of darkness within it. But several recently Nega machines walked around the station, tending to their own duties to keep the place standing for his operations. Speaking of which, Nega himself sat in front of his computer, silently typing away vigorously, an unknown figure stood in the shadows of the base close to him. His identity was mostly concealed by the shadows, but shining through the darkness were a pair of electronic blue eyes.

"Oh, this is so satisfying." Nega chuckled, typing away on his keyboard. "Everything has been going my way ever since I escaped from jail. I have a base of operations, albeit a very rusty and run-down one, I have secret connections with Stark Industries, I finally have my own machines working again, and best of all..." He turned his chair so he could face the shadowed figure. "I now have you on my side. It's almost too good to be true."

"It is a honor to serve you, descendant of Eggman." the figure said respectfully in a mechanical voice.

"I am curious, though." Nega stated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "When you were reactivated, I told you who I was. Immediately after that, you pleadged yourself to me without any sort of argument or such. Not that I mind, I mean, you're a great addition to my growing forces. But why did you give your loyalty to me so easily without question?"

"200 years ago, I served under Eggman himself." the figure explained. "I was wholly loyal to him, and I still am. But he is longer among us, which obvious due to the time that has passed. Since you are his descendant, I feel you are the one who deserves my loyalties."

"Works for me." Nega shrugged. He then noticed the figure looking at his claw in interest, and grinned. "I see you like the modifications I made to your body."

"Yes, I do." the figure admitted. "These new advancements I now have...they are unreal. I feel more powerful than I have ever been before. I am truly grateful for such a gift."

"I am joyous that you like my upgrades." Nega chuckled evilly. "I made sure your new body would only be the finest for your use. After all, I need make sure you're more than capable of defeating those meddlesome Heroes!"

"Don't worry." the figure assured, clenching his hand eagerly. "I'll be sure they won't stand a chance against me. I just hope they can at least put up a fight though." The conversation was then interrupted by a strange beeping noise. "What is that?"

Nega turned his seat back toward the computers, and saw that the computer was the source of the noise. He began to type on his keyboard, and soon enough a map of the world was shown. Nega widely grinned as he saw the map.

"Well what do you know?" he stated joyously. "My computer has located a Chaos Emerald! It's about time we had one of those in our inventory. According to the tracker..." He then zoomed in on the map, where it showed an island, a red circular wave pulsing out of it. "...it's on Prison Island!"

"Hmm, isn't that island GUN controlled?" the figure asked.

"Yes, it is, but I believe that will not change anything." Nega replied, turning back to the figure. "It is time that we finally got our hands on one of those precious Emeralds! I will be sending you to get this. I am fairly certain you will be able to obtain it."

"I will do so, Master." the figure explained. "GUN will not present a challenge at all. They are nothing compared to me now."

"True, but I feel you will get a challenge regardless." Nega stated, confusing the figure. "I have a strong feeling that some of those Heroes will be there."

"Really?" the figure asked. "What makes you so certain?"

"Everytime I try to go with one of my plans, those damn Heroes always seem to show up and screw up everything." Nega explained with a tone of distaste. "They'll try to stop you, obviously, so you'll get the challenge you're looking for. I trust you can take them out."

"Who do you think you're talking to?" the figure replied, black electricity sparking around his hands.

* * *

The scene changes to the GUN controlled Prison Island. It was mostly jungle everywhere you could see, trees covering nearly every inch of the land, vines entangled all over them. Rivers flowed through harmoniously through the entire jungle, the toxic waste that one polluted centuries ago now cleared away. Some old prison cells and overgrown paths remained in the jungle from years past, but were rarely used anymore. There was a large, high security prison on the harbor which was seated on the side of the island. And a ways off from the island, a boat was crossing the ocean, heading straight towards it. And it's sole passenger was Metal Sonic, and just by looking at him you could tell he was in a foul mood.

"I'll get him." Metal muttered. "I'll kill that freak if it's the last thing I do! No one does that to me and gets away with it!"

Several minutes later, the boat arrived at the harbor of the island. As it docked, about three GUN soldiers came up to dock and stood before the metallic doppleganger, who just stared at all of them.

"Are you Metal Sonic?" one of them asked; he recieved no response. "We thank you for coming here. We were wondering when you would arrive. I say it an honor to have a member of the Sonic..."

"Out of my way." Metal growled as he got out of boat and shoved past them.

"Woah, what's his deal?" another soldier asked.

"Yeah, that machine is in a real foul mood." the third one stated.

"I think I may have an idea." the first one answered. "But I'm not sure if it's true or not. It's just a rumor that's going around."

"Tell us anyway." the second soldier replied. "Anything to know why that machine is angrier than he usually is said ot be."

"Well, the rumor goes that Metal Sonic got into some huge fight in Mazuri not too long ago." the first soldier explained. "Not much is known about it, but the rumor states that he fought a monster of some sorts...and lost."

"Seriously?" the third soldier gasped. "_The _Metal Sonic lost to a monster?"

"Yeah, and badly I might add." the first soldier added. "Or so the rumor says."

"Man, no wonder he's in a foul mood." the second soldier muttered.

"Yeah, but he doesn't need to take it out on us." the third soldier stated. "He should learn to not be such a sore loser. He's not the ultimate warrior, you know. He lost, so he should get over it."

"I second that." the second soldier added.

Unbeknowest to the three soldiers, Metal had stopped in his tracks and heard all the words that the soldiers. He clenched his fists as he restrained himself from punishing them. His pride had been damaged at his loss of Reath. He was disgraced, humiliated, and his anger at the disfigured monster knew no bounds.

"Reath, when I get my hands on you, you will pay for what you have done to me!" Metal growled. Two more security soldiers then came up to the metallic doppleganger.

"Metal Sonic, the commander is waiting for you inside." one of them informed.

"Take me to him." Metal demanded. "I don't have all day for this."

The two soldiers complied, and led him inside the prison. They proceeded further into the high-security, passing by several jail cells holding some dangerous criminals. But Metal was not one bit phased by this. In fact, one criminal tried to reach towards Metal through the bars, and Metal shot him a glare that promptly sent the man back into his cell. Eventually they arrived at a door to another room. A soldier opened it, and Metal walked right into it. It was a small square, steel room with nothing but a table in it; Metal guessed that this was the interrogation room. And opposite of him was none other than the commander of the island.

"Ah, so Metal Sonic himself has come before us." the commander spoke. "I must say it is something, finally meeting you."

"Let's cut the fomalities and get right to the chase." Metal replied, heading over to the table.

"You don't play around, do you?" the commander asked, heading over to the table.

"I'm a real foul mood, so I want to get this over quickly." Metal stated. "Do you have it?"

"Yes, I do." the commander replied. "We were lucky enough to find it in the jungle. It's a truly interesting story. You see..."

"Just give it to me!" Metal demanded, holding out his claw. "I don't have all day for this crap!"

"Hmph, you weren't kidding when you said you were in a foul mood." the commander muttered. "Here you go."

The commander reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow Chaos Emerald from it. He placed it on the table, and then slid it over to the Metal. The metallic doppleganger caught it with ease and raised it up to eye level, examing it carefully.

"Commander Kumori told us to give it to you when you arrived here." the commander explained. "She felt it would be best protected under the care of Sonic Heroes."

Metal just remained silent as he stared at the yellow Emerald in his hand. Suddenly, an explosion was heard from otuside. They both turned around just as another explosion was heard outside the prison.

"What the hell is going on?" the commander exclaimed as another explosion was heard.

"Looks like we've got some unexpected company." Metal stated. "Should've expected something like this. Nothing is ever this easy. But at least now I have something to take my anger out."

Blue electricity sparked around his eagerly for a second before he dashed out of the room at high speeds. He passed all the jail cells in a matter of seconds before exiting the prison out into the island, where everything was chaos. There were fires all around the harbor, GUN soldiers scrambling like crazy, and there were dead bodies of those sodliers lying on the ground. Metal looked on in shock and confusion at everything that was going on as a soldier ran past him. He grabbed his arm as he passed by and pulled him towards him.

"Tell me what the hell is going on!" Metal demanded.

"I wish I knew!" the soldier panicked, frantically looking around. "We were just going about our usual duties, when all of a sudden black lightning came out of nowhere and started blowing the place up! Next thing you know there are bodies falling to the ground faster than we can keep up with! Everything's gone to hell! We need help! We..."

He was interrupted when a black blur shot past them at super speed, and three claw marks appeared through his helmet and across his face, instantly killing him. Several drops of blood splattered onto his armor, but he didn't even notice it as he was entranced at what he saw.

"Black blur...super speed...black lightning..." Metal muttered. "...It can't be..."

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the black blur suddenly shot towards him and delivered a devastating strike that sent the metallic doppleganger straight into the jungle. He flew through it for several seconds before crashing into a tree. He fell down it to the ground, groaning in pain as he sat up against it.

"I'm surprised that you were the one who was sent here." a familair voice stated; Metal froze in shock. "I didn't think you would join our enemies."

Metal slowly pulled his head up, and his electronic eyes could only stare in shock. Standing before him was a machine, and it wasn't just any ordinary machine. A scale pattern ran across the surface of the machine's jet black armor, it's mechanical tail swishing around the air almost effortlesly. His claws had razor sharp talons, each one looking as if they could cut straight through anything. It's head could be compared to that of a dragon's, it's appearance menacing to the normal figure. Visible at the bottom of his head were rows of teeth that could be compared to a shark's. It's two visor eyes glowed a bright blue similar to the sky's, and red stripes ran across the forehead of this machine. It stared right at Metal with a menacing look in his eyes.

"...What the...?" Metal exclaimed. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, you don't remember me." the machine smiled evilly. "That's a shame. I thought you would recognize your greatest rival when you saw him." Metal took a look

"...Mecha Shadow?" Metal spoke.

"Yes, in the flesh..." Mecha said proudly. "...sort of. You get my point."

"Impossible..." Metal stated as he stood up. "You've been gone for 200 years. How could you have possibly returned?"

"It's a funny story, really." Mecha replied. "You see, Eggman Nega found my shell within his base by a stroke of luck. Lucky for me as well. He then used his great mechanical skills to reactivate me. Just as talented as Eggman was all those years ago."

"What the hell happened to you?" Metal asked.

"Oh, you mean this?" Mecha replied, referring to his new appearance. "Well, the good doctor Nega was kind enough to give me several new modifications to my body. They are quite nice actually. Very efficient and sleek."

"So you're working with Nega now?" Metal questioned. "How predictable."

"I served Eggman many years ago, so it is only logical I serve his descendant as well." Mecha explained. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"So what's your reason for being here, Mecha?" Metal asked.

"I think it's obvious why I'm here." Mecha answered. "It's the Chaos Emerald that was stashed here. And I can tell you"

"You're not going to get your hands on that Emerald!" Metal proclaimed, readying himself. "Not as long as I'm able to fight!"

"Hmph, you know it truly baffles why you chose to join our enemies." Mecha replied. "But it doesn't matter. At least now I will get the chance to prove myself as the better fighter. For so long I've strived to be stronger, to be better than you. And now the time has come to prove that I am. I know you have the Chaos Emerald, and once I defeat you, I'll take it and bring it before Nega." Metal readied himself until he took a good look on his surroundings and suddenly a thought appeared in his head.

"This place..." Metal spoke, suprising Mecha. "If my knowledge serves me correctly, this island was the place where Sonic and Shadow fought 200 years ago, and now, here in this time, we, their robotic counterparts, now fight on the very same island, perhaps the very same location. How ironic."

"Fate has mysterious ways of setting events up, doesn't it?" Mecha replied, looking around him before he turned his focus on Metal. "This is the perfect location to finally find which one is better." He then put himself in a fighting stance. "Prepare yourself."

Metal responded by going into a fighting stance, and two stood their ground as they stared each other down. Neither of them moved for a few moments, the tension practically felt within the air as a nonexistent wind blew through the jungle. Then suddenly, the two dashed at each other at high speeds, and they both threw devastating punches which collided with each other. Mecha swiped his free hand for the metallic doppleganger's head, but Metal was able to duck it. He then shot his foot at Mecha's torso, pushing him back a bit, and then threw another punch. But the lizard-like machine sidestepped it, and then kneed him in right in the gut, and then clasped his hands together and brought them down on Metal's back, sending him down to the ground hard. He then stabbed his talon towards him for the kill, but Metal rolled out of the way and it struck the ground.

He tried to pull it out, but he realized he went to deep and it was now stuck. Metal took full advantage as he rolled into a standing position and delivered a perfect roundhouse kick across Mecha's head. The impact sent him to the right, pulling his hand out of the ground as he staggered. Mecha growled as he retaliated with a punch, but the metallic doppleganger known as Metal grabbed the arm with both of his hands and then threw him into a nearby tree. Unexpectedly, Mecha latched onto the tree with his claws and feet.

"There's no way I'm going down that easily!" Mecha proclaimed.

He then pushed himself off of it and shot straight towards Metal, stabbing his claws right at him. The blue machine rolled out of the way as Mecha passed him. Metal turned around to face the lizard-like machine, but he was nowhere in sight.

"What the...?" Metal exclaimed. "Where the hell are you?"

Metal put himself on top alert as he moved around the area, trying to find his rival. Suddenly, he felt an unknown force strike his torso hard. He staggered back a bit as he tried to locate his attacker, but he could not find him. He was then struck from behind and sent to the ground. Metal growled as he jumped up to his feet and turned around, only to be hit once again in the torso before being struck in the face, sending him into a tree. Metal groaned in pain as he stood up, and was able to see Mecha suddenly appearing before him.

"So you can now turn invisible?" Metal questioned. "That's a new feature."

"I have to thank Nega for that." Mecha grinned. "He gave me quite a few new features that are truly efficient. What you just experienced was my new chameleon cloak."

"Able to blend in with your surroundings?" Metal stated. "Very impressive. But it still won't be enough to beat me!"

Then in a blink of an eye, he shot a large amount of electricty towards the lizard-like machine, who barely had any time to react as he was struck in the chest, sent straight down on the ground. Metal shot foward at him for the killing blow, Mecha suddenly kipped up and swung his mechanical tail at the incoming machine across his chest, thrown into another tree. The robotic menace then gathered black electricity into his hands and shot it at his rival, but Metal jumped into the air as it pierced the tree behind him. He then shot down towards him, his foot extended for a kick, but Mecha was able to jump away as he struck the ground. The two shot towards each other once more and clasped their hands together, entering a bout of strength as the two struggled to dominate the other, but were equally matched.

"I must admit..." Metal grunted. "You're a lot better than I last remember. Maybe Nega finally did do something right."

"Oh, you haven't seen what I can really do." Mecha chuckled evilly. "I have yet to truly show what I can do."

"Oh really, well that's good." Metal stated. "Because I wasn't pulling out all the stops yet either. I would be sorely disappointed if you weren't a real challenge."

The two robotic rivals then pushed themselves away from each other, before they dashed towards once more, clashing again. They suddenly began to clash all around the area at sonic speeds, nothing more than blue and black blurs to the naked eye. The high-speed brawling continued for awhile longer before they struck each other once more, sending each other crashing into opposite trees. But they didn't let up as they stood up and readied themselves. They both raised their right arm and held it with their left hand, and then soon enough, they soon coated their hands with a wave blue and black electricity, respectively. They threw out their hands and dashed towards each other, both of them yelling out two words.

**"Metal Surge!"**

Their threw their Surges righ at each other, and they connected with each other. The result was an intense, uncontrabble flurry of dangerous electricity that was flying everywhere from the two Surges as two robotic rivals struggled agianst one another, trying to best each other. The mixture of blue and black was present as the Surges clashed with one another, their controllers trying to break through the other. Then, out of nowhere, the Surges began to crack from the serious tension, and suddenly exploded, and forced both Mecha and Metal to skid away from each other before they came to a halt.

"Looks like we're evenly matched for the moment." Metal stated.

"Perhaps, but in the end I will defeat you." Mecha proclaimed. "There's no stopping that."

"Mecha, you still have a lot to learn." Metal informed.

Metal dashed at him and swiped his claws, but Mecha was able to raise his arm in time to block. The lizard-like machine swung his leg upward for a kick, but his rival was able to backflip away in time. The metallic doppleganger landed on his feet and threw a ferocious punch, but Mecha caught it and then gave a swift shot of black electricity at his torso, Metal was sent flying, but he used his jet boosters on his feet to stay in the air. As he recovered, Mecha shot into the air towards Metal to take advantage of the situation, but unfortunately, his rival saw this and as soon as he was close enough, he quickly brought his leg down on the black machine's head, sending him crashing down to the ground hard. Mecha was starting to get irritated as he stood back up.

"There is no way I'm going to let you win!" Mecha once again proclaimed, firing an arc of electricity at his rival.

Metal dodged it and shot towards his rival, who began firing arc after arc of electricity, but the metallic doppelganger dodged every single one and delieverd a punch to straight to lizard-like machine's face, causing him to stagger backward quite a bit. Metal took the opportunity before him as he gathered a vast amount of electricity between his hands.

"Time to end this!" Metal announced. **"Metal Shot!"**

Metal thrust his hands foward, and shot out a barrage of electrical bolts straight towards his rival. Mecha saw this in time, and brought his arms up to defend hismelf, but surprisingly, every single bolt passed him by without even hitting him once.

"What the...?" Mecha exclaimed. "You missed. But that's impossible. You never miss. Unless..." He suddenly realized it. "...Oh no."

"Oh yes." Metal stated, raising his hand to the sky. Mecha looked up and was alerted by the dark, raging thunder clouds suddenly appearing together out of nowhere. "Metal Shot is only a distraction for my real attack. And I don't care how fast you are. There's no way in helll you're going to be able to dodge this! You were a great rival, Mecha, but it ends here! **Metal Blackout!"**

He brought his claw down in a fast motion, and on command, from the clouds rained a massive blue bolt of lightning in the shape of a dragon's head down on Mecha. The machine could do nothing as the attack struck him, consuming him completely.

"Game over." Metal stated victoriously. But he then noticed something with the Metal Blackout. "What the...?"

He took a look at the Blackout, and saw that it wasn't exploding or disappearing at all. He then saw it began to move a bit upwards, and soon enough, it was revealed what was happening: Mecha had his hands upwards on the Metal Blackout, a strained expression about him as he struggled against it.

"What the hell?" Metal exclaimed. "That's impossible! There's no way he could to that! How could he stop the Metal Blackout?"

But there was no time to ask questions as with a ferocious roar, directed the Metal Blackout right towards his sworn rival. Metal stared in shock as his own attack struck him dead-on, consumed by the volts. After several moments, the attack ended and there was nothing but a smoking hole from where Metal once stood. Mecha fell to his knees in exhaustion, but had a victorious smirk.

"Forgot to mention another feature Nega gave me." he chuckled evilly. "I can travel through electrical currents, as well as redirect them. It took nearly all of my focus and energy to redirect that attack, but it was well worth it. Now I have proven that I'm the better of the two." He then stood up to a vertical basis. "Now to find that Chaos Emerald among your remains." He slowly walked towards the hole, but as soon as he got close to it, he heard two words.

**"Metal Surge!"**

In the blink of an eye, Mecha's right side was torn apart as Metal jumped out of the hole and thrust his Metal Surge through the machine's side. The lizard-like machine roared in pain as he fell to his knees, Metal landing behind him, his body damaged severely from the Metal Blackout, before dropping to his knees.

"Impossible..." Mecha grunted as he held his torn side in pain. "You should be dead! There's no way you should have survived that!"

"You know me, Mecha." Metal panted as he slowly turned his head to Mecha. "I'm hard to kill. I know how to withstand my own attack."

"Still, you shouldn't after using Metal Blackout, and subsequently getting hit by it!" Mecha pointed out as he tried to stand up.

"Well, looks like I had just enough for one more Metal Surge." Metal replied.

"You're a stubborn bastard, I'll give you that." Mecha commented as he stood in pain. He then heard multiple footsteps heading his way. "Damn, GUN! I'm in no condition to fight them off anymore!" He turned to his rival. "You've won this round, Metal. But I'll be back!"

Mecha then ran into the thickness of jungle, activating his chameleon cloak blending with his surroundings as he disappeared, Metal unable to do anything except watch him leave as he was completely exhausted. A few seconds later, a 20 several GUN soldiers entered the area and created a peremiter around it, looking for their enemy. Soon enough, the commander and walked up to Metal.

"Are you alright?" the commander asked. "You're in pretty bad shape."

"I'll live." Metal simply stated as slowly stood up. "I've been through much worse, trust me."

"Whoever that bastard that attacked us was, we're not going to let him get away!" the commander proclaimed. "We're going to search this entire island until..."

"Forget it, commander." Metal interjected, shocking the man. "You won't be able to find him in time. He's probably long gone by now. But the good news is..." He opened his chamber, and pulled out the yellow Chaos Emerald. "I was able to keep his hands off the Emerald."

"Well at least we accomplished that." the commander stated. "We have achieved a victory here today."

"Yeah, I guess." Metal muttered as he stared at the Chaos Emerald, his thoughts on Mecha. Now that his rival was back, the war had taken a turn for the worse.

* * *

Several hours later, the scene returns to Nega's base, where we see the evil genius himself once again typing away at his computer. This time he had the same plans that Obadiah Stane had given for his project pulled up on his screen. He cackled as he typed away, making any additions he wanted to the plans.

"Oh man, when this is finished, those Sonic Heroes won't even stand a chance!" Nega smirked evilly.

"Master..." a familar mechanical voice spoke from behind.

"Oh Mecha, about time you got back." Nega said as he turned around in his seat. "I trust you brought back the Chaos..." He trailed off when he saw a wounded Mecha before him. "What the hell happened to you?"

"It was Metal." Mecha grunted as he held his wounded side. "He was the one that was sent to the Prison Island. Thanks to him, not only was I wounded, but I was unable to retrieve the Chaos Emerald as I was forced to retreat."

"This is a setback." Nega muttered. "But it does not matter in the end!"

"We just lost a Chaos Emerald to our enemies, and you're not mad at all?" Mecha exclaimed.

"Normally, I would be." Nega explained. "But you see, Mecha, there will be other opportunities to capture the Emeralds. This is a minor setback, for you see..." He turned back to the computer and pointed towards the plans on-screen. "When this is built, the Sonic Heroes shall meet their end!"

**An blast from the past returns in the form of Mecha Shadow and now an ultimate weapon is being built. What will Mecha's revival mean for the war? Who will find the remaining five Chaos Emeralds? And what is Nega building that will perhaps spell doom for the Heroes? Find out in the next Sonic Heroes: Millennium. **


	7. Walk Through Memory Lane

**Sonic Heroes: Millennium**

Trip Down Memory Lane

The electric-blue eyes of Mecha slowly dimmed on within the confines of Nega's base as he reactivated himself. He was lying down on the work bench when he woke up, Nega standing over him as the scientist put away his tools. The lizard-like machine slowly sat up, moving his arms around to check maximum motion. He then ran a full diagnostic on his systems, and for a few moments he sat there unmoving.

"Full diagnostic is complete." Mecha stated. "All systems seem to be operating at maximum capacity." He turned to Nega. "I must comment on your repairs, Nega. They are very efficient and well-tuned."

"I am glad you think so, but please don't put yourself in such a condition again!" Nega replied. "The damage that was done to your body was pretty extensive, and I don't have the time to keep repairing you over and over."

"Don't worry, it won't happen again." Mecha stated confidently, jumping off the work bench. "I underestimated Metal's abilities after the centuries have passed. I will admit that I had expected him to be gradually weaker than last time. But now, I fully understand my full capabilities. I will not fail again."

"You better not." Nega growled. "Let's see if that claim is true." He went to his computer and began typing away on his keyboard. "I cannot stress the importance of us having a Chaos Emerald. It would put us on a level playing field with our enemies. We may have lost the last Emerald to the Heroes..." He pulled up two pictures on the screen. "..."I'm certain that one of these two has one on them."

Mecha turned his attention toward the screen, and scanned the pictures shown up there intriguingly. He walked over to the computer and stood right beside Nega just a few feet away. Nega saw the look of interest on him and just grinned at it.

"Without a doubt you have no trouble remembering these two hooligans." Nega stated.

"Of course." Mecha replied. "I've had quite a few battles with these long ago." He turned to the scientist. "And you're certain that one of them has a Chaos Emerald?"

"There is a chance that neither of them might have it." Nega admitted; Mecha frowned. "But even if they don't, you'll still have the chance to take them out. It would be good for us to eliminate the competition from the game."

"...Very well." Mecha agreed solemnly. "I'll find them, and scavenge them for the Emeralds. After that, I'll do away with them personally."

"Mecha, I hope you don't fail like last time." Nega frowned; Mecha gripped his claws tightly, his face partially covered by the shadows. "I would hate to have to find a new assistant – it wouldn't be too hard.

"No need to worry." Mecha stated menacingly. "Everything is under control."

* * *

The scene changes to the high-tech metropolis only known as Future City. The technological buildings of the city stood tall all around the city as hovercars drove through the streets at intense speeds at all times of the day. People walked through the streets as they continued their everyday lives within the futuristic metropolis. Silver the Hedgehog walked down the sidewalk of the streets, taking in the view of the city around him.

"Amazing." Silver muttered to himself. "No matter how many times I see the city, no matter how long I live here, I can't help but be grateful with this future and what I have." He looked up towards the sky. "Sometimes I can't help but be happy that the future I knew no longer exists."

"Talking to yourself, Silver?" a familiar voice asked. "Funny, I never pegged you as the schizophrenic type."

Silver turned his attention towards the source of the voice, who was a mysterious figure leaning on a building. This person wore a black cloak that covered his entire body, black gloves over his hands, and also wore black metal boot,, carrying a bouquet of flowers. The hood of the cloak was pulled completely over his face, hiding his identity, but despite this, Silver seemed to know him as he formed a small smile on his face.

"Well, what I can say, I'm just happy." Silver replied. "This is a complete opposite from what I grew up in, and I have no argument about it."

"Of course, but you should know that the world you know of now isn't going to last much longer." the figure said ominously.

"We won't know if that's for certain until it happens, will we...Mephiles?" Silver replied.

Sure enough, the figure lifted his head just enough so the light could show enough of his face to reveal that is was indeed Mephiles the Dark. But instead of a dark, hostile look towards the psychic hedgehog, what was present features was actually a shockingly calm, friendly look to his arch-enemy. He stood up straight and walked over to the hedgehog.

"Maybe, but then again, who's to say you will win this time around?" Mephiles asked back; Silver chuckled.

"It's good to see you, Mephiles." Silver stated with a smile. "Want to take a walk?"

"I'd be happy too." the time demon replied. The two unlikely people began walking through the city as if though they were old friends who had just reunited, despite their past with each other.

"It's kind of nice to be here with you as a friend, instead of fighting you as an enemy." Silver said.

"I'll admit it as well, it is nice." Mephiles replied. "But if Lord Nazo found out I was here, he would probably end us right there and then."

"You're probably right." Silver laughed. "But I think it's worth the risk. You deserve have this day for something other than fighting and evil. Today, let's just forget what sides we're on, forget all the worries, and just remember the good times."

"Hmph, like the time we first encountered one another?" Mephiles brought up.

"Oh yeah, I remember that as clear as day." Silver reminisced. "That was back in that altered future I grew up in. You showed up after I defeated Iblis for the moment. You took advantage of my frustration of being unable to save my home."

"Yes, you were pretty easy to manipulate back then." Mephiles stated. "I gave you something that you thought could save the future, and you jumped on it immediately. Convincing you to try and kill Sonic was like child's play."

"Yeah, but when I went into the past, I began to experience so much." Silver told him. "I began to see you what you were planning and how you were using me. I went back to my future to finally defeat Iblis, but you pulled a fast one on us all."

"Yes, when you destroyed my fake Iblis, I knew time running was out." Mephiles replied. "But I took advantage of opportunity. I killed Amy, and got Elise to cry, releasing the true Iblis. I became Solaris with my brother, and I thought I had won."

"Yeah, for a moment, so did I." Silver admitted. "But I didn't give up. I fought you along with Shadow and Sonic, but you killed just about everyone except me, Blaze, and Elise. But we got the biggest break that saved us all."

"Yes, I was separated from Iblis, and your girlfriend took full advantage, sacrificing herself to seal away my brother." Mephiles recalled. "Then you decided to use Chaos Control to send me directly to Hell. I haven't forgotten about that, you know?"

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't have that easily." Silver chuckled. "But everything turned out all right. The past was changed, and the future was saved, everyone was brought back to life, and everything returned as before."

"Yes, but as fate would have it, I will never to fade away." The time demon stated. "Thanks to some luck, you and I now existed outside of time, which ensured my continued existence. And then I met Nazo, who offered me my freedom from that place called Hell in an exchange for my undying loyalty. I think you know which choice I made."

"Obviously, or you wouldn't be standing here right now." Silver smiled. "And there's been so much that's happen since then. My first trip to this future with an unfriendly Metal, Iblis coming back, hell, I even had him sealed inside me to this day. But one thing makes it all worth it in my opinion."

"Blaze." Mephiles answered; Silver nodded. "I heard you two are going to get married. About time you got the courage to propose her."

"Hey, I was picking my moment, okay?" Silver defended sheepishly.

"To be honest, I'm actually happy for you." Mephiles admitted. "When I see you two, what you have with each other, it reminds me of the times before, the times me and _her_ shared together."

Mephiles stopped in his tracks immediately stopped in his tracks when he said those words. Silver noticed this as well, stopping right beside the shrouded time demon. He could see the sad expression that his face portrayed, and the psychic hedgehog put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly as he smiled warmly at him.

"You know, it's kind of weird." Silver said. "We're supposed to arch-enemies, fighting each other for as long as we live, yet here we are, friends, connected by something that we both have in our hearts. It really shows how far we've come."

"You think she is happy for me?" Mephiles questioned.

"I'm sure she is, Mephiles." Silver replied. "I'm sure she is."

"There you are."

The sound of the voice, along with it's threatening and hostile tone, was the one thing that put the both of them on alert. They both turned around, only to jump out of the way as an incoming arc of black electricity shot past them, striking a building. The attack immediately sent the people in the area into a panic, ever single one of them running away as fast as they could from the site. Silver floated in the air with his telekinesis while Mephiles landed on the side. The two turned towards the source of the attacker, and found themselves the lizard-like machine, Mecha Sonic.

"And here I thought finding you was going to be a challenge." Mecha smirked. "Looks like luck is on my side."

"Mecha..." Silver uttered, staring intensely at the machine.

"So you recognized me?" Mecha said. "I'm a little surprised, considering the obvious changes I went through."

"Metal described your return and your metamorphosis quite a bit." Silver explained. "This change of appearance actually suits you. It shows you for the snake you really are."

"Touché'." Mecha replied. "But I see something very interesting. Why would you, Silver, of all people be even having a conversation with Mephiles?" The time demon looked at the machine, making sure the hood stayed over his face. "I'm not blind or ignorant as the people that inhabit this city. But what baffles me is that you two are supposed to be personal arch-enemies...and you are actually acting life-long friends."

"It's a complicated matter." Mephiles stated, setting the bouquet down somewhere safe before turning back to the machine, glaring at it. "It's something that you could never understand."

"Well, I would love to actually try to understand it..." Mecha said mockingly. "...But I honestly don't care. I've been looking for you two for awhile."

"Is that a fact?" Silver questioned, floating down to the ground. "What do you want, Mecha?"

"You see, Nega believes that one of you two might have a Chaos Emerald on you." Mecha explained. "I'm here to destroy you both and bring an Emerald to him."

"Tough luck, Mecha, neither of us has any at the moment." Silver informed.

"Well, in the end it really doesn't matter whether you have Chaos Emeralds or not." Mecha stated. "I was told that either way, you two gotta go. So sorry."

"So there's no avoiding this, huh?" Mephiles asked.

"Absolutely not." Mecha replied emphatically. "Now both of you stand still so I can crush you."

Mecha started the battle off by firing off two arcs of black electricity at them respectively. Mephiles and Silver moved out of the way to avoid the arcs. Mephiles dashed towards the machine and threw a punch at him, but Mecha caught it with his with ease. The lizard-like machine smirked, but failed to see the time demon swing his leg upward, striking him at the chin. This caused Mecha to stagger back a bit, and this gave Silver the opportunity to send a burst of psychic energy at the machine. Unfortunately, Mecha saw it coming and jumped in the air to avoid it. Mephiles jumped into the air to follow him and began throwing a volley of strikes, but the machine dodged each one of them easily. The time demon swung his leg at him, but Mecha quickly caught it, and with a devilish smirk, he swung around and threw Mephiles into a nearby building. Mecha

"I thought you would be stronger than that, Mephiles." Mecha stated. "I am truly disappointed."

"Well, you won't be disappointed with me!" Silver exclaimed.

Mecha turned, only to be punched in the face by floating Silver. The white hedgehog took advantage of his stunned state, telekinetically grabbing him and pushing him into a building. But the hedgehog was shocked to find that when Mecha reached the building, he latched onto it like a lizard, and begin scaling it. Silver shook off his astonishment and began taking nearby debris and objects and throwing them at the machine telekinetically. Mecha maneuvered up the building, dodging the debris thrown at him. After a few close calls, Mecha finally reached the top of the building.

"Nowhere to run now!" Silver proclaimed. The hedgehog then psychically grabbed an empty hovercar and threw it straight at Mecha.

But Mecha suddenly pushed himself off the top of the building, his body going over the hovercar, and he gathered electricity into his hands and fired it at Silver. It struck Silver directly, taking him out of the air and down to the ground in pain. Mecha landed on the ground and then shot back into the air directly over Silver, his claws raised for the kill.

"Die!" Mecha exclaimed, about to shoot down towards the hedgehog.

Suddenly a large red arrow of energy came out of nowhere and struck him at the side, sending him crashing down to the ground. Mecha sat up in both anger and pain and looked at his attacker. Mephiles stood before the machine, his cloak slightly tattered but still intact, the hood still over his face.

"You're going to have to do better than that to keep me down!" Mephiles proclaimed.

"Impressive, but I'm afraid it will all be futile in the end." Mecha replied.

Mecha shot back up and swung his claw at the time demon, but Mephiles backed away in time, and swung with a roundhouse kick. The machine brought up his forearm to block the kick, and pushed it away as he stabbed his talons at Mephiles. But the demon back flipped away to avoid it, and then formed a Chaos Lance and fired it. Mecha struck his claw at it, sending the large energy arrow to the side. The demon shot towards the lizard-like machine, but the machine sidestepped him, and gathered a large amount of electricity into his hand and thrust it at Mephiles' side. It tore through the side of his cloak and body as he was thrown across the street. He fell down to the ground, clutching his side, as Mecha came and stood over him.

"It's time to end this once and for all." Mecha proclaimed.

"You can't kill me." Mephiles reminded him. "I'm immortal, remember?"

"Do I actually care?" Mecha sneered. "I'm going to destroy you until there is nothing left of you!"

**"Psychic Screw!"**

Mecha shot his head up at those words, only to get struck in the chest by a precise burst of psychic energy, sending him down to ground. Mecha sat up to see Silver floating in the air as he threw large debris at the machine. The jet-black machine rolled out of the way of the debris, and shot towards the white hedgehog, and stabbed his claws at him. Silver flew to the side as Mecha past him and threw a kick at his side. But Mecha caught his leg in mid-air and with a mighty swing, threw him down to the ground. Silver, however, recovered with a roll back to his feet, and the moment Mecha touched the ground, he dashed towards the white hedgehog. Silver readied himself for the machine, but suddenly a Chaos Lance struck Mecha from out of nowhere, staggering. Mephiles, his cloak torn, ran up to the lizard-like machine and kicked him straight into the air. Silver then telekinetically grabbed the machine's body and with all his might, threw him into the base of a building. Mephiles and Silver stared at the place he crashed intently.

"Thanks for the assist." Silver told him.

"It isn't over yet, Silver." Mephiles informed seriously. "It'll take a lot more then that to defeat someone like him."

"Well, it's two on one, so we have the advantage." Silver stated. "There's no way Mecha's..."

He never finished his sentence as he felt himself get struck at the gut. Silver gasped in pain as he was struck again in the face. The hedgehog staggered, and both he and Mephiles looked around for the attacker, but could not see him. Suddenly, electricity shot through his body, the hedgehog screaming in pain as fell back down to the ground. Mephiles was taken back by these events, and looked around for his foe. He was suddenly struck from behind being sent down to the ground. He felt his leg being grabbed as he was lifted up and then repeatedly smashed into the ground over and over again before being thrown away. Mecha then dispelled his cloak, smirking at his work.

"I absolutely admire the enhancements the good doctor gave me." Mecha stated. "It really comes in handy."

Mephiles and Silver slowly stood up, recovering from the attack of the lizard-like machine. But suddenly, just as Silver stood up, Mecha took a hold of his throat and threw him straight at the time demon, sending them both crashing down to the mat. The machine took the opportunity a huge amount of electricity into his hand and once he accumulated enough of it, he fired all of it straight at them both. Silver and Mephiles had no time to react as they were both hit dead-on. As soon as the smoke cleared, both Silver and Mephiles laid on the ground battered and bruised.

"Time to finish this." Mecha stated. He took a step towards them, but stepped on something. "What the...?" He looked down, and saw he slightly stepped on Mephiles' bouquet of flowers. He picked it up and held it in his hands. "What's this? Flowers?"

"Give it...back." Mephiles grunted as he struggled to stand up.

"Oh, so this is yours?" Mecha said with a bit of satisfaction. "Why would someone such as you have a need for it?"

"It's for...someone...dear to me." Mephiles managed to say as he stood up.

"Dear to you?" Mecha questioned. "Don't make me laugh. You're nothing but a heartless demon. You have no you care about. Whoever this person you're talking about is, he or she must be really stupid." Mephiles' eye twitched dangerously at those words. "Who could ever truly care about someone like you? This person, if you ask me, must be a complete freak."

The moment those words left him, he was suddenly punched in the face by Mephiles, an uncontrollable rage in him, causing him to drop the flowers. He had snapped as the machine said those words, and he was letting his anger take full control. He continued to strike at the machine, never once letting Mecha a chance to counterattack. He then stabbed his claws through the right shoulder of the machine, earning a scream of pain from him. Mephiles then threw him off, but then he proceeded to fire a Chaos Lance at him. But he didn't stop there, as he fired Lance after Lance at the lizard-like machine, relentless in his assault as his anger flowed through his attacks. Eventually his anger simmered down a bit, and he eventually stopped his attack on the machine. Smoke dusted the area of attack, and as it cleared, Mecha stood, but just barely, as his body was completely torn from the onslaught of Chaos Lances, his face coming as close to shock as it could.

"Unreal..." Mecha uttered. "There's no way...that should've happened. He should of...been finished."

Mephiles then came up to him and swiftly grabbed the machine by the throat, and lifting him up into the air. Their eyes made contact and Mecha could literally see the anger and rage that was present in his eyes. For a few moments, all was still as Mecha waited for the demon's next action, too weak to try and break free from his grip.

"You're not worth it." Mephiles stated; He threw the machine to the side. "Like I said before, someone like you could never understand how I feel. I'm going to let you go simple because destroying you would make me no better you. But I suggest you leave before I decide to change my mind, which is something I'm considering doing."

"You'll pay for this." Mecha growled. "I swear that when the chance arrives, I will make you suffer."

And with those words said, Mecha used whatever strength he had left to flee from the scene and back to Nega. As soon as he was out of sight, Mephiles walked over to the flowers and picked them up. He examined them, slightly damaged, but nothing too serious. The time demon breathed a sigh of relief as he saw this.

"Not the best way to spend your day." Silver stated; he was covered in a few wounds and held his side as he walked up to him.

"How dare he do something like this on today of all days?" Mephiles growled, visibly upset.

"Don't worry, Mephiles." Silver replied, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's all over now. Let's get out of here before someone comes here and sees you. It wouldn't turn out so well if people knew you were here."

"...Right, let's go." Mephiles agreed. "It's time to pay her a visit."

* * *

The scene shifts to a graveyard field just outside of Future City. Rows of tombstones lined up throughout the green field, signifying all those who had died over the years. Mephiles and Silver walked through the graveyard, passing through several of these stones. Eventually they came to a stop in front of particular tombstone. Mephiles stepped forward while Silver stayed back, allowing him his moment. The time demon kneeled before the stone, and placed the flowers in front of it, a sad expression of love.

"Hello again...my love." Mephiles said.

The tombstone read:

_**Shira Darkcrest**_

_Wonderful mother, wife, and lover._

_"It's not what's on the outside, but on the inside that truly counts."_

"Sorry I was so late, Shira." Mephiles said sorrowfully. "I got held up by one of my old enemies. Really bad timing if you ask me." Mephiles forcefully chuckled to himself before taking his sad expression once again. "I came here to pay my respects, Shira. You've done so much for me. Before I met you, I was just what everyone made me out to be, a cold, heartless demon. But then you came into my life, and you changed me so much. You saw beyond what I looked like, and loved me for who I was. You taught me so many things, especially love."

"Though it didn't help us very much." Silver said jokingly; Mephiles glared. "Sorry."

"I saw what was truly important in life, and that was you, most of all." Mephiles continued. "All the years we spent together were the best of my 200 years in this world. But there was one thing that came to a head: I was immortal, you were not. As the years went by, you got older, and eventually you fell to sleep forever." The time demon clenched his hands tightly. "That was the most painful day I ever experienced. I thought I couldn't live anymore without you. It took me years before I could accept it. But still...even after all these years, not a day goes by where I miss you, and your warm touch. Not a day goes by, where the pain still plagues me." Mephiles hanged his head in sorrow. "...I miss you, Shira. I miss you, so much!"

Silver felt sympathy for Mephiles, for even though they were arch-enemies, the time demon had loved just like he does right now, and to lose the one person you love more than anyone else must've been the most agonizing feeling anyone could've experienced. He walked over to the time demon, and for the third time today, put his hand on the shoulder of Mephiles, but this time, with more sympathy and emotion than before.

"Mephiles, all I can say is I'm sorry." Silver told him. "I can't imagine the pain you go through every day. But, remember, Shira is not truly gone. She's still with you in your soul, in your heart. As long as you remember her, she'll never be truly gone. I know that she would be happy for you right now. You..." Silver stopped as he felt someone coming into the graveyard, and apparently Mephiles did as well as he turned his head around, and he knew who it was.

"It's her..." Mephiles uttered; he immediately stood up. "I must go. I can't let her see me." He was about to leave, but then turned back to Silver. "Thanks for being here with me, Silver."

"No problem, now get out of here." Silver motioned; the time demon then ran out of the graveyard and out of sight, Silver watching him the whole way.

"Hey Silver." a feminine voice said. "I expected you to be here."

The hedgehog turned around to meet the source, and only smiled in response. The newcomer was a hedgehog with purple fur and emerald green eyes. She had six up-curved quills, each decorated with a white tip at the end. She wore a black t-shirt with red stripes along with skin tight blue jeans, and also wore yellow/red shoes. The final touch on her was the necklace she wore around her neck.

"Hello, Myra." Silver greeted nonchalantly. "How are you today?"

"Quite fine actually." Myra responded cheerfully as she made her way up to the tombstone.

"So...come here to pay respects?" Silver questioned.

"Of course, I mean, Shira was my ancestor after all." Myra told him. "I heard quite a few stories about her from my family. It makes me wish I knew her. She seemed like such a good, kind-hearted person."

"I'm sure she was, Myra." Silver stated with a smile.

"But one thing has bothered ever since I met you." Myra told him. "It's the fact that you come here to this exact tombstone of my ancestor. I understand about paying respects, but what business do you have with coming to her grave? She lived over two hundred years ago. You couldn't possibly knew her...could you?"

"Let's just say that through all the things I've been through, I've had the pleasure of meeting a few people." Silver cryptically replied.

**The loss of a loved one can be live through an eternity, but their legacy lives on in a new form. Will Myra ever learn the truth about her ancestry? Will Mephiles ever truly heal from the pain he has felt for centuries? And what will Mecha do now that he has been dealt his second straight loss? Find out in the next Sonic Heroes**


	8. Different Time, Same Battle

**Sonic Heroes: Millennium**

Different Time, Same Battle

"Mecha, you incompetent fool!" Nega yelled at the lizard-like machine.

The scene once again begins at the secret base of Nega, even more of Nega's newly built robots running around, attending to their duties. But the scientist didn't even pay them or anything else any attention, for all his focus and rage was on the jet-black machine before him.

"I gave you one simple task!" Nega scowled. "One! Take out a couple of our enemies, but no, that was too hard for you!"

"I didn't know Silver and Mephiles were together, and would actually be cooperatvie with one another!" Mecha retorted.

"Excuses!" Nega shouted. "I don't want to hear any damn excuses! I gave you a mission, and you failed! For the second time in a row!

"I am more than capable of accomplishing my goals!" Mecha growled. "I'm just having some rust is all! I haven't been active in over 200 years!"

"Bullshit!" Nega exclaimed. "I don't tolerate failures, and you have had two in no time at all! I thought you would make a difference when I recreated you, but that was obviosuly asking for too much! I wonder if it's worth keepign you around!"

"Give me one more chance..." Mecha pleaded, but suddenly a beeping sound came from the computer.

"Damn it, of all times!" Nega growled; he turned to Mecha. "I'll deal with you later." Nega then walked over to his computer, typed in a few keys, and brought up his Emerald tracker, which had a big blue dot on it's map. "Looks like we've got ourselves yet another Emerald. Hmmm, very interesting where' it's located."

"I will go and retrieve it..." Mecha offered but was interrupted.

"No, you've failed me enough to actually trust you with this task." Nega snapped. "I've realized soemthing. You want something done, you've got to do it yourself! I'm taking matters into my own hands now!"

"Just remember, Nega." Mecha warned. "Whenever we go out to get these Emeralds, there''s always going to be one of those Heroes, one way or the other."

"If one of those blasted Heroes do show up, I'll take care of them in my own special way." Nega grinned maniacally.

* * *

The scene changes to the peaceful, legendary land known as the Green Hill Zone. The lush, green plains of the zone spread out for miles as flowers of all kinds graced the beautiful land. Life flourished beatifully here as small animals, such as squirrels and birds, lived here peacefully. The ocean blue skies only added to the graceful beauty the Green Hill Zone. And off in the distance, for the first time in centuries, a familiar blue blur sped across the hills of this land. It suddenly stopped on one particularly large hill, revealing to be Sonic II, now gazing out across the plains.

"Man, I know Blue is wise and all, and I have to learn how to control my Chaos energy..." Sonic said to himself, scratching his head. "But why am I out here instead of working on it? Blue said that coming here and training will help me take a step to doing so, but how is that possible? Sometimes, I wonder what that body of water is thinking at times."

After ranting to himself a bit, Sonic II decided to stop a bit and gaze a bit at the scenery, and the moment he did, he couldn't help but be in awe. He took in the entire scenery with a great appreciating, taking in the whole sight ever second he could.

"Why does this place seem so familiar?" Sonic asked, feeling a strange tugging within him. "I feel like I've been here before, but why? I haven't been here ever, hell I haven't even heard of this place!"

Sonic scratched his head in bewilderment at the feeling he was experiencing. Deciding to just simply ignore it, he was about to, when suddenly he felt himself get hit by a sudden memory.

* * *

_Flashback_

_He was running across the lush, green plains of the Green Hill Zone at high speeds, with a big smile on his face as he passed the many trees of the environement. He was a bit shorter and a little rounder, and quite a bit younger, about the age of 12 years old. As he raced across the plains, two Buzz Bomber badniks, robotic-like bees, suddenly came into his view. They swooped down on the hedgehog, their stingers directed at him, but he just smirked as he easily rolled out of the way of their path. The badniks turned around and came in for another swoop, but he was prepared, for once they were close enough, he jumped into the air, and as they flew under him, he dove down and swung his foot down on one of him, destroying it. He then quickly grabbed the second one and threw it towards the ground, breaking it into many pieces. He landed on the ground and saw several Motobug badniks heading his way. But he wasn't worried, in fact he was having fun. Without any fear or hesitation, he curled into a ball and performed a Spin Dash, barreling through the badniks with no effort at all. He uncurled and continued running at sonic speed, an excited smile on his face._

_"Come on, is that really the best you've got!" Sonic challenged eagerly._

* * *

Sonic II was suddenly brought out of hi flashback, sweating over his forehead. He panted heavily as he put his hand over his head, trying to gather his thoughts as regrouped from the episode.

"What...the hell...was that?" Sonic breathed out. "Why was I running across these fields, when I haven't been here ever? And what the hell were those things attacking me? And why was I a little kid? What's going on! Why did I..." Sonic groaned in frustration. "You know what, I'm just going to forget it. I really don't need this. I need to get back to my training and try to figure out how to use Chaos Control."

Shaking the thoughts out of his head as fast as he could, he streatched a bit before dashing off in blue blur across the lush plains. He zipped through it all, the feeling of familiarity growing a bit from this. But as he was running at sonic speeds without almost a care in the world...

"Oh, hey Nega." Sonic said as he passed the scientist.

"Hello, Sonic." Nega replied.

A second or two passed before Sonic, realizing what happened, suddenly stopped to his tracks, skidding to a halt, Nega doing the same. Sonic did a double take for a moment before turning around, and sure enough, he saw Nega in his Eggmobile right in front of him.

"Nega!" Sonic exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, rat!" Nega snapped back. "What business do you have being all the way out here?"

"First off I'm not a rat, I'm a hedgehog!" Sonic told him angrily. "And second, I asked first so you answer!"

"I'll only answer if you answer first!" Nega replied.

The two stood off against one another, neither willing to give an inch to the other. Sonic narrowed his eyes challengingly, and Nega just growled under his breath, both just daring for the other to make a move.

"Tell me what you're doing here!" Sonic demanded.

"Why should I?" Nega stated. "I have no need to tell anyone of what I do, especially you of all people! I bid you adieu!"

Nega turned his Eggmobile around, completely on leaving the Zone. But suddenly, a blue blur flashed in front of him, and Sonic stood there in his way. Nega just grew a look of anger as Sonic remained rooted to the spot.

"Did you honestly think I was going to let you go so easily, Nega?" Sonic smirked.

"Erggg, that's it!" Nega shouted. "Every damn time, you Heroes always manage to turn up wherever I am! You're like a infectious disease! You're everywhere! Can't you just let me do my work in peace for once!"

"You done with your ranting?" Sonic asked nonchalantly. "I need to get back to my training, so I can't spend too long dealing with you."

"I've had enough!" Nega roared. "I knew you were going to be trouble the moemnt I created you! Now I'm going to destroy you once and for all!"

"How are you going to do that, Egghead!" Sonic joked challengingly; Nega's anger rose. "In case, you've forgotten, you have been able to beat any of us Heroes since you broke out of prison. So what makes you'll have any luck against the main one!"

"You obviously underestimate me, hedgehog!" Nega stated confidently. "And who knows? Today may be my lucky day!"

"We'll see about that!" Sonic smirked. "Whatever you're here for, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel the appointment! So let's get it on!"

Nega just stared intensely at the hedgehog, and then pressed a button in his Eggmobile. And after that, the bottom of the flying transport suddenly opened up and coming out, slowly descending was a large metal boulder connected to a steel chain that was also connected to the Eggmobile. Sonic II did his best to contain his laughter at the sight of this.

"Is that it?" Sonic exclaimed, almost bursting into laughter. "A big boulder that you're going to swing at me? That's lame, even for you! Man, you have dropped to an all time low, Ne..."

Sonic II stopped his sentence before he could finish it, as Nega pressed yet another button, and another chain-connected metal boulder descended from the bottom opening and hung next to the first one.

"So you have TWO giant metal balls, so what?" Sonic said unimpressed; Nega pressed another button, and another metal boulder appeared. "Okay, now there's three. Big deal." Nega pressed yet another button, and suddenly spikes appeared on all three of them. "Woah! Spikes, huh? Well, that doesn't change a thing!" Nega pressed another button, and the chains started to twirl them around at a fast pace. "Okay, that might make them a little dangerous..." The scientist pressed one last button, and machine-gun turrets appeared on both sides of the Eggmobile. "It never goes my way, does it?"

"Probably not." Nega responded cooly.

The scientist then proceeded to fire his machine gun turrets at the blue hero. Sonic II responded by jumping backwards in the air to avoid the bullets, and as he landed on the ground, Nega fired at him once again. Sonic ran around the area, avoiding the bullets that the doctor was rapidly firing at him. Suddenly, Nega suddenly had one of his metal boulders swung towards the mobile hedgehog. Sonic saw it in time and was able to jump over it, but the moment he landed, he saw that another spiked boulder was being swung down on him. Sonic rolled out of the way as it struck the ground. Sonic then dashed off as he continue to outrun even more bullets.

"Is this really all you've got?" Sonic II challenged. "If you can't do better, then I'm going to win as usual!"

"Didn't I tell you not to understimate me?" Nega asked. "You're so full of yourself!"

"I try my best!" Sonic II chuckled.

Unfortunately, he was so focused on getting under Nega's nerves, he didn't see the third spiked boulder being swung his way. Sonic turned his head to find exactly that only a few feet away from him. If it weren't for his super speed, he'd have been done for, but he was able to kick himself away barely, as the spiked boulder swung past him, a few spikes cutting across his chest. The blood flowed down his chest from his cuts, and Sonic was distracted by this long enough for Nega to crash his Eggmobile into the back of Sonic II, sending him down to the ground.

"Hah, looks like you're all talk and no bite!" Nega cackled; Sonic pushed himself up to his feet.

"Oh really?" Sonic replied. "Well, allow me to prove you wrong!"

Sonic suddenly dashed towards the Eggmobile, but the scientist wasn't going to make it easy for him as he once again fired off his machine-gun turrets at him. The blue hero zipped around the field, outmaneuvering the bullets that the doctor was firing at him. He swung two boulders from both sides at him when he was close enough, but Sonic II just jumped over them towards the doctor. Then, with a swift movement of his wrist, the cuffs on his wrists produced vibrant blue blades of chaos energy. Nega tried to fire at him again, but once the doctor was in range, Sonic sliced off one of the turrets from the Eggmobile.

"Ahhhh, my turret!" Nega gasped. "You're going to pay for that!"

"I'd think not!" Sonic replied.

He landed on a nearby large rock, and then used the momentum to push himself off and shot towards him. He curled into a ball on his ascent towards the Eggmobile, and struck it dead-on, the impact sending it down to the ground. Sonic II landed on his feet with a triumphant smirk.

"Told you that you were wrong!" Sonic stated arrogantly. "Looks like you were the one who underestimated me!"

Unfortunately, Sonic's moment of triumph was quickly taken away as a spiked boulder was suddenly swung at him. Sonic jumped back in time to avoid it, as the Nega and the Eggmobile emerged from the smoke, the scientist with an angry expression on his face. He swung the second spiked boulder down on the hedgehog, but he jumped to the right to dodge it, landing on a large nearby stone boulder. But Nega anticipated it, and swung the third spiked boulder struck the stone from behind, shattering it. The sudden destruction of his ground sent Sonic II flying down to the ground face-first hard.

"Oh, that hurt!" Sonic groaned, rubbing his bruised forehead.

"Now be still so I can crush you!" Nega shouted.

He fired his remaining turret at the downed hedgehog, but Sonic II quickly spun himself up to his feet and pushed himself away from the line of fire. Sonic then once again jumped towards Nega, but was suddenly struck at his right side by one of the spiked boulders. The spikes dugged into his side as he was once again sent down into the ground by the impact. The blue hero struggled to get up as blood poured down his side and legs.

"How ironic is it, that it will all end exactly where it began." Nega stated.

"What the hell are you babbling on about?" Sonic grunted.

"Oh that's right, you don't remember, do you?" Nega asked rhetorically. "Well, seeing as how you won't live much longer, I might as well tell you. You see, this is the Green Hill Zone, and it was here, 200 years ago, that my descendant, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, and the _original _Sonic the Hedgehog fought here for the first ever. It is fitting that we now fight agaisnt each other, and even more fitting that it ends here!"

_"My past self...fought him here?"_ Sonic dwelled. _"Is that why I had that flashback before?"_

"Time to die!" Nega proclaimed.

Sonic II was snapped out of his thoughts as Nega fired his turret once again at the hedgehog. Sonic II backflipped away in time to dodge the bullets, and dashed again towards the doctor. Nega swung a spiked boulder down on the hedgehog, but Sonic jumped to avoid it. The metal boulder struck the ground, and the hedgehog landed in top of it. He then shot towards Nega, and once again curled into ball form and struck the Eggmobile dead-on. The impact truly sent it spiraling, and as it flew away, an object fell out of the cockpit and onto the ground. Sonic II wondered what it was, until it started to glow, and it turned out to be a shining silver gem.

"A Chaos Emerald!" Sonic exclaimed. "So that was why you were here!"

"Damn it!" Nega cursed. "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

Sonic immediately reacted, dashing towards the Emerald as fast as he could. Nega, after he balanced his Eggmobile, saw what Sonic was doing, and in desperation fired his turret at the running hedgehog. Sonic saw this, and jumped up to avoid ther incoming bullets once again and landed in front of the Emerald and snatched it from the ground.

"Got it!" Sonic exclaimed.

"No! I won't let you win again!" Nega shouted furiously.

He then opened a compartment at the front of his Eggmobile, and suddenly fired a missile at the hedgehog. Sonic saw it a mile away, and jumped into the air as it exploded as it made contact with the ground. The blue hero smirked arrogantly at this sight, thinking he had outsmarted Eggman, but he was outsmarted as he looked up, and saw that Eggman had come closer, and swung his three spiked boulder towards him from three different directions forming a triangle. And with him in mid-air, there was no escape.

"Ha, game over, hedgehog!" Nega cackled. "Looks like I finally win!"

At that very moment, time seemed to have slowed down for the cobalt hedgehog. He watched as the spiked boulders were slowly coming towards him. He couldn't believe that this was how he was going out. He always thought it be in a more grand, flashier way everyone would see. And right there, he suddenly was overcome with even more memories.

* * *

_Flashback_

_He was once again the 12-year old Sonic, and this time he was fighting Nega...only it wasn't Nega. His clothes were now a mixutre of bright red, orange, and black, and his moustache was orange. His Eggmobile now had the same color design, and it was swinging a single brown metal boulder on a chain. He swung it at the hedgehog, but Sonic easily jumped over it, and he struck the Eggmobile with a well placed Spin Dash. The Eggmobile shook violently trying to stay afloat, the scientist's anger growing._

_"Damn you, you rat!" he yelled. "Stay still so I can crush you!"_

_"What's wrong, Eggman?" Sonic joked playfully. "Can keep up with me?"_

_"For the last time, my name is not Eggman!" the doctor exclaimed furiously. "I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the greatest scientific mind in the world!"_

_Sonic just smirked joyfully at the doctor's outrage, and dashed towards the scientist. In an attempt to squash the hedgehog, Eggman flew the Eggmobile as fast as he could towards the hedgehog, using the momentum to hopefully strike the hedgehog with his boulder. Unfortunately, Sonic was one step ahead, for Sonic, once close enough, bent his whole body backwards far enough to allow the metal boulder to be swung right over him. Eggman was over him, and he took full advantage as he curled into a ball and he spun into place, gathering energy. He then shot up towards the Eggmobile, going through the chain connecting the boulder and striking the bottom of the transport so hard, that it's mechanics started to blow up, and nearly all of the controls blew up in Eggman's face._

_"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!" Eggman screamed._

_

* * *

_

_The memory scene suddenly changed, and now, he was 15, and he was in outer space in a cylindrical glass capsule of some sort, seemingly rocketing towards the Earth at high speed. He was trapped with no way out, as he looked around for some answer. He then looked down, and saw a yellow gem on the ground of the capsule. He looked down at it, contemplating several thoughts, until he kneeled, took a hold of the gem, and held it out in front of him. With great concetration he yelled out two words..._

* * *

**"Chaos Control!"**

At that exact moment, the three boulders collided with one another, seemingly crushing Sonic II into a pulp. The moment this happened, Nega could not help but jump in joy as the defeat of his enemy.

"Finally!" Nega screamed in joy. "That blue failure of a creation is finally gone! Now it will only be a matter of time until the others will! And soon, I, Eggman Nega, will..."

"Man, will you please shut up! It's getting really annoying."

The voice speaking those words immediately froze Nega in his place. Almost hesitantly, he looked down below from his Eggmobile, and saw Sonic II kneeling right below the flying transport, the Chaos Emerald in his right hand and a cocky smirk plastered on his face.

"When will you learn that no matter what day, month, year, or age, an Eggman will never beat a Sonic?" Sonic exclaimed.

Sonic then curled once again into ball form and span into place gathering strength, and before Nega could even react, he shot upwards, and struck the bottom of the Eggmobile with a powerful Spin Dash. The impact jarred the flying vehicle, coursing through all of its mechanics. The controls began to flail out of control, Nega beginning to crazily try to bring it back under his control.

"T-this can't be!" Nega stammered desperately. "D-damn it!"

The doctor could do nothing as everything blew up within his Eggmobile. The spiked boulders and chains suddenly started to shatter into pieces, the remaining machien gun turret exsploded, and in no-time at all, the inside and nearly all controls of the Eggmobile blew up right in Eggman's face. His entire face was covered in ash as he seethed with uncontrollable rage, only able to utter the words his ancestor spoke long ago.

"I...HATE...THAT...HEDGEHOG!" Nega screamed furiously.

Utterly defeated, he had no choice but to fly his miraculously still operating Eggmobile away, black smoke pumping out of it the whole way. Sonic II watched him leave, panting slightly from the battle, but then a big old grin washed over his features.

"Yes!" Sonic exclaimed joyously. "I did it! I mastered Chaos Control! Seems like Nega was good for something after all! Oh man, wait 'till Blue and the others see this. Still, I wonder what those memories about? Ah whatever, doesn't matter anyway."

As Sonic talked to himself about his latest achievement, off in the distance, was the same figure from Mazuri and Stark Industries. As before he still wore the dirty-brown fedora and leather brown coat that concealed his identity, the S.W.O.R.D badge shining in the sunlight, watching Sonic II carefully.

"So he's already learned to use Chaos Control." the figure stated with great interest. "I thought it would take him a few weeks to learn to use it, but it seems coming to the Green Hill Zone and facing Nega seem to have cause a reaction in his memories. Seems to have jump-start his ability to use Chaos Energy. He still has a long way to go, but this is an interesting development. The boss will definitely want to hear this."

And with that said, the figure turned around and walked away, the blue hedgehog totally unaware of his presence in the first place. Speaking of the blue hedgehog...

"Since I seem to have this in the bag, better head back home." Sonic stated; an idea formed in his head. "Hey, what better way to show that I learned Chaos Control than to use it to get back to Future City! Oh man, the looks on their faces will be priceless." He held the Chaos Emerald high above his head. **"Chaos Control!"**

Sonic II vanished in a blue light, and when he reappeared in the world, he was expecting to be back at the base, enjoying the shocked expresions that would obviously show up on his friends' faces...Instead, when he opened to his eyes, he was treated to a giant wall in front of him, aged and cracked all over that stretched on for miles across the green plains. It only took a second for Sonic II to figure it out.

"China!" Sonic exclaimed. "What the hell am I doing in China!"

Sonic II still had a lot to learn apparently.

* * *

"Seems like you did no better than me, doctor!" Mecha mocked.

"Oh shut up, Mecha." Nega grumbled.

Nega had now returned to his secret base, broken Eggmobile and ashen face and all. Mecha couldn't help but feel a little joy at seeing his master utterly defeated like this after scolding him for losing so many times.

"Not to be insulting, but you seem to have no better luck than the original Eggman had with the Heroes." Mecha stated. "Except you seem to have failed even more miserably than he did."

Nega just growled in response, thoughts wrapping his mind. What was he doing wrong to garner such losses? He had the secret support of Stark Industries in Obadiah Stane, he had the deadly assassin in Mecha, and he was creating even more deadly machines than before. So what was the problem? Suddenly, it dawned on him.

"Of course!" Nega exclaimed; Mecha looked curiously. "Our group is too small! We don't have near enough to take them on! If we could expand our group just a little more, we could gain an upper hand on them. Mecha, it's time to do a little...recruiting."

**Sonic II has now overcome the first step of his training, but he still has long way to go in his road. Will Sonic be able to master the Sonic Wind consciously? Who will Nega recruit in his campaign for world domination? And who is this mysterious figure that watches over the Heroes? Find out in the next Millennium.**

* * *

Attention any and all readers! My master, Babylon Sky Hawk, is one of the best readers on this site, and I say that with honesty! And I would appreciate if any of my fans would check out his story, Sonic Rush: Next Generation, and his upcoming story Sonic Rush Colors! Next Gen is one of the best stories out there, and I encourage you all to go and read it! DO SO OR BURN IN THE FIERY DEPTHS OF HELL!


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